Faucaria tigrina is one of the more interesting succulents.  It has rosettes of triangular leaves with pointed fleshy parts, making them look like open jaws.  It is one neat looking plant.  Mine is nice and pink whereas most of the Tigers Jaw that I have seen have been a rich green.  I assume that makes it Faucaria Tigrina Felina.  This is another plant from South Africa.  I plan on separating this and adding it to one of my dish gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

I turned fifty-two a couple weeks ago and overall aging doesn't bother me.  The only real downside that I've found is my eyesight.  Around forty-five I suddenly couldn't see close-up.  I went to the eye doctor and needed bifocals.  I was surprised that it happened to me.

Fast forward a few years and I bought a watch.  I love watches (time pieces) and have a dozen or so.

My latest dress watch is a Fossil Chronograph.  It is very big and I have a large wrist so it fits just right.  Problem is it is a chronograph and I had no idea how to use it.

Since I have been on vacation for a few weeks I decided to pull out the booklet that came with it and get all of the features down.  I pulled out the booklet and it made me laugh out loud.

The book was thick and small.  When I opened it up the type was so small that even with my bifocals on I couldn't read it.  I went online hoping for an online guide but to no avail.

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily my younger brother Devlyn is a whiz with anything mechanical.  I took the watch over to his house and he figured it out in minutes.

It will be interesting to watch what other adjustments I have to make as I pass through middle age.

 

Back in the beginning of August, A Succulent Obsession had a photograph of Crassula Gollum that I found fascinating.  I had never seen one before.  On the site they called it Coral but I've seen it called Hobbit's Pipe after JRR Tolkien's character since the leaves are tubular and appear to be tipped with a suction cup.  It is also known as Trumpet Jade or Finger Jade.

I searched high and low and finally came upon a nice specimen.  As you can see when the plant gets sufficient light the tips become red.

 As with any of the Jades  it is easy to propagate.  I plan to mix different jades into a dish garden.  I think that will be interesting.

 

I wrote a few days ago about my Jade Plant .  Jades are beautiful in their deep rich greens.  There are many varieties of Jade so I started collecting and propagating some of them.  I found a variegated Jade (crassula ovata variegata) at a greenhouse and it is a beauty with thick variegated leaves of green, white and pink.  Take a look.

Remember how easy these are to propagate using leaf cuttings.  Let the leaf sit in the sun for a couple days until it forms a callous and then plant in soil.  Make sure the soil is fifty percent gravel or perlite.  It needs to be able to drain easily and water when dry.  It's that easy.

 

When I was a kid there used to be a guy who would come down the street with a cart selling vegetables.  He was always smiling, always friendly.  Whenever we saw him coming all the kids would come out and walk with him as he told jokes or small stories.  Women would come out of their houses and buy the vegetables and I'd marvel at his ease with people.  He had such a lighthearted way about him.  I've never met a person so content. 

I haven't thought about him in thirty-five years.

Today I read a story on The American Sentimentalist about a similar person.  Do yourself a favor and click on the link and read:

But who has time for the sharpening guy? (thoughts on an Old World moment in a New World diaspora)

 

 

 

 

Now this is a great succulent and a real attention getter. Beautiful thick leaves with rich maroon streaks throughout and outlining the leaves. I just got it and it's going to be a nice addiction. I plan to display this in a simple terracotta container and have it in front of a plain wall.

 

 

 

 

 

Crassula ovata is probably the most common houseplant of all the succulents. It's also known as Friendship Tree. I've heard people call it Money Tree but that plant is actually Pachira aquatica.

Jades have rich green leaves and are great for creating an indoor bonzai. I got mine from a friend whose plant is over four feet tall. Her crassula has flowered beautifully with white star like flowers.

Jades are incredibly easy to propagate. Just take a leaf off, let it dry, and then plant in damp soil. It won't be long before it will root.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The company I work for, ETDS (Earth-Toned Delivery Service), used to have an internal magazine called The Big Idea.  Back in 1984 they did an article on me and my computer.  Back then I was a serious computer geek with a power machine, an Atari 800 with 48k of memory.

For a good laugh click on the article.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the blogs I've been reading about succulents is A Succulent Obsession .  I'm very impressed with the photographs on the site and I've been trying to take better photographs of my plants because of it.  One of the mistakes I've been making is not showing their size and much like a fisherman holding the fish close to the camera, some of the plants look very large when they aren't.  Such is the case of the Coral Cactus.  I held it at arms length and it looks very large.  It isn't.  Here is a picture with a yardstick next to it.

 

 

 

 

People who know me know that I love succulents.  Many times at work or on a special occasion someone will give me a cutting or a full plant in a container.  Lately I've been the recipient of odd plants and plants that are near death.   The coral cactus was given to me just because it was so odd looking.

This plant is Euphobia Lactea Crest and as you can see it has been grafted onto another Ephobia.  In the wild the crest is rare but with breeding and propagation techniques they are easily found.  The Euphobia Lactea Crest is grafted onto the Ephobia to speed up it's growth.  I've been told they do this in Thailand.

I'm not really into Cacti.  Repeat after me, All cacti are succulents but not all succulents are cacti.  I have some and enjoy them but there are endless varieties of succulents to discover.  The Coral Cactus, though, is a beauty and I'm looking forward to seeing it flower.

Click on picture to enlarge.