March 2024 Marvellous Mesembs

[el48tel]

I'm hoping to see lots of entries since I'm sure that there's at least one mesemb even in the collection of the most dedicated cactophile.
With many mesembs being winter and spring growers I'm hoping for flowers ... texture .... patterns .... shapes. I'm not judging the plants .... I'm judging the pictures you send for the way in which you portray or tell the story or what it is which makes the plant so special to YOU.

[Aiko]

Probably the nicest of mesembs according to me: Conophytum burgeri

Active and in flower:

Inactive during its summer dormancy:

[TomInTucson]

Probably the nicest of mesembs according to me: Conophytum burgeri

Active and in flower:

PA120004.JPG


Inactive during its summer dormancy:

P6230044.JPG

🖒

[el48tel]

Bumping this .... as a reminder

[WoBo]

Last month I wasn't able to contribute - no Adromischus in my collection.
This month I had to search my photo archive a little longer, as I had already presented several mesemb pictures before, including some as night bloomers ... So here is my March selection:
One aspect I love about mesembs is the color spectrum of their flowers. There are colors - and color combinations - including metallic effects that are quite unique. Here you can see the cultivar Delosperma dyeri 'Red Mountain', where the flowers start out rather orange (at the bottom of the picture and at the very back in the blur) and then turn reddish with a purple tinge.

I have shown this Titanopsis schwantesii before, but with the 'opposite shot' to this photo. This genus is one of my absolute favorites because of its reptiloid leaves.
Or is it dinosaur skin?

Wolfgang

[el48tel]

Bumping.
Only one week remaining.

[el48tel]

Another bump
Surely there's a few more pictures of plants .... shapes ... texture.... colour .... etc .... flowers are not compulsory

[Jim_Mercer]

A smaller Trichadiadema densum that I thought might produce some flowers before the end of the month.
Decided to go to greenhouse to check on progress if the sun was shining but sun went behind cloud while I was walking to greenhouse.
This is a quick snap taken with phone with plant in its usual position so not much of an attempt at finding best angle,

Trichadiadema densum.

if I can find the motivation/energy might bring plan indoors tomorrow so I can play with different lighting

[MikeT]

I keep meaning to add some photos, finally got round to doing something. I think they all qualify as marvellous - I think so anyway.
First 3 are of Lampranthus in Attila Kapitany's garden in Melbourne:

Then a wider view of the garden, so not everything is a Mesemb:

Then Cheiridopsis denticulata:

the next 2 I think are both Jordaaniella, but open to alternative suggestions

and no idea what this is, beyond it being a mesemb

They're all special, not because I grew them (if only) but because of the memories they bring. Attila Kapitany's garden was the most stunning I have ever visited, even my non-succulent-loving wife thought it superb. The others are reminders of trips to South Africa. Health-wise, I have no chance of going back, but I still get much pleasure from looking back at what I was privileged to see.

[el48tel]

I waited until noon to post.

We may have lacked quantity this month, but we had quality.
Aiko gave us two superb images of Conophytum burgeri, putting this plant into environmental context.
Wobo gave us Delosperma dyeri 'Red Mountain'. Again, this shows the plant flowers in context, although for my taste, I’d trim off the most distant out-of-focus flower and show the image as a square format, or I’d use focus stacking to show all of the flowers more sharply. His image of Titanopsis schwantesii, similarly I’d trim to square to emphasise the plant and separate it more from the background.
In contrast, Ernie gave us a jungle-like Trichadiadema densum. Perhaps this needed a point of interest for us to find in the first image, but we did see some flowers in the second picture, which gave a good colour contrast from the foliage. His Conophytum picture was a delight. Pity the right-hand flower was out of focus. The lighting in the first Lithops image was a little “odd”, but did show the plant as often Lithops bodies appear. In contrast. Lithops. leslieri 'albinica', for me lacked a little interest point. His remaining Lithops image seemed to have an odd lighting artefact in the middle of the plant.
Another Trichadiadema densum from Jim Mercer, shows the way in which this plant grows, but I’d trim off the top 15% and left-hand 15% of the image since its out-of-focus nature distracts; alternatively, I’d use an off-centre vignette to lighten the centre of the picture or darken the top and left edges slightly.
The eight pictures submitted by Mike T demonstrated the range of mesembs, from filling the garden to an individual plant; through the (nearly) full spectrum of colours. Lampranthus #3 was my preference from the sequence. Cheiridopsis denticulata was certainly the image which was impactful. I’m not familiar with Jordaaniella and the magenta flower I enjoyed, pity the centre of the orange flower lacked sharpness.
Choosing the winner was difficult. I say that with great sincerity. My top three were the Conophytum from Ernie; the first Conophytum burgeri from Aiko; Cheiridopsis denticulata from Mike T.

The winner was Conophytum burgeri from Aiko because the image made me think, “is this a flower? Is it growing out of the stone?” Well done!
So over to you Aiko to choose the April topic