July 2015: Summertime

[MikeT]

Apologies for the delay, I've been without internet objection for the last few days.
The topic for July is 'Summertime'. Anything that suggests summer, whether plant, flower, setting or anything else.

[Chris L]

Quite a few of my Gymnocalycium flowers are open around this time. These two were in flower a year or so ago the day we got back from our summer holidays.

[Jim_Mercer]

Summertime; when the cactus flowers open and you get close for that special macro shot....

[iann]

Summertime, scorched Copiapoas

mollicula1.jpg (72.52 KiB) Viewed 3545 times

[Jim_Mercer]

Today is turbitime...

Turbinicarpus schwarzii

Turbinicarpus flaviflorus

[Liz M]

The great British summer, cacti in the rain.
A wet Opuntia.

Opuntia in flower

Delosperma estuayhense

Mammilaria spinosissima, flowering even though it is only just getting roots.

[Aiko]

Delosperma estuayhense

I assume Delosperma esterhuyseniae?

[Liz M]

Yes, I did the name from memory, thanks for the correction.

[iann]

Not the easiest Delosperma to spell, but maybe I can help with that. I'm not sure it is D. esterhuyseniae at all D. esterhuyseniae has noticeable yellow centres to the white flowers, and is "tufted" with hardly any visible stems even on the flower stalks. Here is D. esterhuyseniae:

A possible name is D. karooicum. This name is slightly dubious, but seems to be commonly applied to plants that were initially distirbuted as D. sp. Graaf-Reinet. It has more a typical "spreading" Delosperma habit, thin woody stems developing, although it can be very compact in the garden. Flowers are pure white, the only yellow is the pollen.

[Liz M]

When you buy a plant, you are at the mercy of the labellers. I have lost count of the number of my plants that have been renamed here. Thanks for the information Ian, at least I won't have to try to remember how to spell esterhuyseniae. I would certainly agree that my plant can get very woody stems. In fact, I repotted it, removing all the dead and dried out bits of stem. It has grown very happily since.