Happy New 2018 Year

Hey Marilyn, you are probably safe from us "under the weather" people here. Hoping you are keeping toasty warm and safe in your little abode. I assume your little collection is under their winter protection too until Mother's Day weekend?

Sorry you have been hit by the bugs, Bev. Yes all is in dormancy, I hope, until then but around here you never know. I can protect from getting too cold but is hard to deal with the ever changing temps. We are just coming out of one of the cold snaps and it could be 60 by the weekend.

Oh well, if I did not have the weather, I don't know what I would complain about.
I guess my aching knees or the arthritis in my big toe.

Well, take care of your entire body...we aren't getting new body parts at milestone birthdays. Wait, my brother-in-law just got a new knee...maybe they are handing them out now! Let's get in line...

- I am waiting till mine fail before I worry about knees or hips. But maybe would stand in line for new eyes.

Thank you Marilyn for starting the 2018 thread.

Cliff is already in line for two new hips. Already has the new knees.

CD must have gotten the genes for rotten joints instead of me... So far no problem with hips or knees . Bending over to play with my semps would be verrrrrrrryyyy hard if I had either problem.

And Lord willing No flu here either. I am rooting for SPRING here on out.

It is spring in my house
My bougainvillea has leafed out again and starting to bloom, the hibiscus have buds, the funeral orchid that I haven't managed to kill yet is blooming again now, the african violets are going crazy, christmas cactus and kalanchoe too, and amaryllis sending up stalks, and the hoyas are thinking about it...and pretty soon the not jasmine thing I call jasmine will be in the mood too and it will smell divine in the mornings...and, then, it will still be a long wait before anyone can go back outside for summer vacation
but the days are getting longer

Wishing all that are sick healing thoughts. Last Christmas i was sick for three weeks. Thanks to my SIL the nurse for coming sick and making a fruit platter. This time around no eating any raw foods.

Happy new year everyone. I am having trouble posting pictures. this is a test.

Well that worked.. no reason for sharing that particular pic

Glad you did JoAnn as it's a neat looking one with the unusual (for me) color!

no reason not to either!

@ricos, pretty I like the color, does it have a name

Nice photo Jo Ann. Glad the photo problems is solved. We will soon be coming into spring colors.

Adding photos of semps that I have (now only a very small fraction of what I used to have), I added each of these to the database as plants I'm willing to trade with

Four views of a small concrete trough that has:
1. S. 'Alluring', an interesting little creature with small ball-shaped rosettes with dark tips, in summer opening up into small "roses".
2. S. arachnoideum 'Robin' - showy red rosettes in spring, always looks good
3. S. Sempervivum marmoreum subsp. erythraeum, one of my very favorite species (got it as just S. erythraeum many years ago) before the name change, great for planters because of slow growth & unique leaf build, lovely soft pinkish tones in spring.

In the photos, you can see a pad of eastern USA native Opuntia humifusa, staying very slow and contained in my trough filled with almost sterile medium (mostly sand/grit).

Photo from early April 2010, very dark rosettes of 'Alluring' on the left. Note, it doesn't make tight colonies, the stolons are long, I sometimes pin them to infill blank spots. In lower center is arachnoideum 'Robin', and erythraeum above.




Close-up of S. 'Alluring' late April 2013.




Late May 2017, everything looking pretty good, 'Alluring' on left, arach 'Robin' in center, erythraeum above.




First week of July 2010, same line-up left to right, 'Alluring', 'Robin', erythraeum.

Was just going through some pictures from last summer and came across this one of 'Rosa Spumanti' trying to bloom itself to death. Ha - didn't work!!

goldfinch4 said:Was just going through some pictures from last summer and came across this one of 'Rosa Spumanti' trying to bloom itself to death. Ha - didn't work!!

Ha! I'm not always a fan of semps flowering, other than thinking "there's a hybridization opportunity", but when there's enough flower stems as in your photo, it's quite showy.

AntMan01 said:
Ha! I'm not always a fan of semps flowering, other than thinking "there's a hybridization opportunity", but when there's enough flower stems as in your photo, it's quite showy.

I totally agree! I also like the fact that the bloom stalks were so heavy that they hang down rather than stand straight up as usual.

'Rosa Spumanti' is a wonderful semp, and your photo shows another beautiful aspect of this little arachnoideum.
Here is another one of your photos Chris. I love the color of blooms.