Thanks all. I now feel fairly confident in labelling it as an Aylostera. Further back-up was provided by the plants themselves, as the flowers do seem to develop a few more bristles as they age, and by my A. heliosa which helpfully came into bloom, displaying very clean stems to the flower except at...

A few flowers (and one interloper) from the last week or so now that flowering season is getting underway in my greenhouse... Oreocereus hempelianus (or Arequipa erectocylindrica, as the BCSS seed packet said 30+ years ago) - the first glamorous cactus flower in the greenhouse this year. (The actual...

I grew the plants below from seed purchased from Succseed as "Rebutia spec. Lara & Aguilar (Tarija-Narvaez, Tarija, Bol.)" The website mentions that it is also known as "R. narvaecensis de Lara & Aguilar" but also that it is probably a new species. Succseed doesn't separa...

So if I'm reading this right there will be no checks or phytosanitary certificate required for seeds of "our plants" coming into GB from the EU. Which just leaves CITES restrictions to worry about which (sticking to seeds rather than plants) affects a relatively small proportion of cacti a...

I think the ban on seed exports from Mexico only applies to Cactaceae, so in theory there shouldn't be any more problem getting Echeveria seed from there than from anywhere else. Probably a bit expensive for one pack of seeds, though.

That mammillaria spine looks absolutely terrifying! Not least because the texture gives it something of an animal quality.

Even frostier this morning... Lewisia 'Little Raspberry' - not usually thought of as a foliage plant Lewisia Little Raspberry 01.jpg Sempervivum 'Virgil' Sempervivum Virgil 02.jpg Sempervivum 'Pacific Purple Shadows' Sempervivum Pacific Purple Shadows 01.jpg And either I have discovered a new specie...

I'm waiting for POWO before I relabel anything. At the moment I think this would affect just my three mangaves. Although knowing my luck they'll update just after I label the Agave amica (or is it Polianthes tuberosa?) tubers I have on order, and possibly even the Agave bulliana (or is it Prochnyant...

... I hope no plants were damaged by the frost. It really hasn't been that kind of winter here. That said, the long, deep freeze we had in December 2022 saw off anything likely to be vulnerable in this (notably a couple of Aristaloe aristata). The main problem I have growing succulents outside is o...

Aylostera heliosa:
Sempervivum 'Virgil'
Mammillaria dixanthocentron:
Haworthiopsis limifolia var. ubomboensis: