It’s brown and dreary outside; it’s green with spots of color in the greenhouse. Here are some of those spots of color.

Pleispilos nelii Royal Flush is an odd-looking little plant with a gorgeous flower. This particular variety has the purple petals, hence the name “Royal Flush.” The flower opens in the afternoon, closes at night, and reopens for a few days afterward. It only blooms one flower and then is done for the year.

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I bought both of these specimens at the same time, but the other one has not bloomed yet. Maybe next year.

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Titanopsis calcarea is another interesting little plant from South Africa that will make several blooms in a season. Look carefully and you can see the remains of some of the earlier blooms this year.

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Minnie Cat always likes to check out the greenhouse when I do. I caught her right outside the door on this day. I guess she is comfortable, but that doesn’t look like a very pleasant position!

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Sedum trealease has clusters of these bright yellow flowers coming out of its plump gray rosettes.

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This is the plant, which is pretty even without the flowers.

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Sedum adolphi is growing in the same container along with the S. trealease, and it has clusters of white flowers.

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Cotyledon Mint Truffle makes clusters of soft pink flowers that are always a bright note against the green. If you look at the leaf in the bottom left corner below, you can see grasshopper damage from this summer; you also see the same damage in the picture above on the Sedum adolphi. I do have a good picture of another cotyledon below, but it hasn’t bloomed yet.

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Bulbine is a bushy succulent with long green leaves that makes a nice texture contrast in the garden, but seems to bloom better for me in the winter when it is in the greenhouse. Go figure. You can see the plant in the background in the picture of the sedums.  Left outside in the winter here, it becomes a pile of mush and has never come back for me from the roots, so I put it in a pot and put it n the greenhouse for the winter, then back outside when it warms up.

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This Notocactus haselbergii has these pretty bright orange flowers in the winter. Its flowers last a few days, and you can see another bloom forming to open when this flower is gone.

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The last spot of color, this red has been around a while, as it is the fruit left from the flowers on this little mammillaria that I don’t have identified. The fruit is just about as pretty as the small flowers this cactus makes. When they dry they burst open and disperse seeds.

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The garden outside looks pretty sad, but I always have something pretty and pleasant to enjoy inside the greenhouse.