A few succulent arrangements...

This afternoon I moved a few of my plants around...they had either outgrown their pots, or I had wanted to make an arrangement.

This is my zigzag cactus, or ric rack that I repotted. It is still looking good, and I love the way it grown and its shape...pretty neat!



Now, this is what I had been wanting to do...put these three star shaped plants together. They are all different colors and I think they look great together! The back left is my Dykia marinae lapostele, the back right is Haworthia limafolia, and the front is the Cryptanthus!



Now, I removed my Aptenia cordifolia (Baby Sun Rose)from it's doggy container, and put it all fresh in here so it could have more room to spread! It had some leggy peices, which I cut off and stuck back in...hopefully it will take off growing!



Here is my little curly-que plant which has yet to be indentified. The senecio varieties have not panned out so far, and I am still on the hunt...thanks to all who have taken shots at it so far...hey...feel free to keep looking...I am!!!



This plant is a Sedum furfuraceum...ain't it cute??? Hard to see with the Purlite laced soil. He was getting a little too much sun in the tires (note the fried far right end of it)...so have moved him to a pot on the porch.



And now doggy planter stands alone...waiting to see what his mommy puts in him next!

Ric-Rac Cactus, (aka: Anthony's Rick-Rack, Zig-Zag Cactus, or Fishbone Orchid Cactus)

I recieved two new specimens in the mail yesterday from Gardinos, and one of them was this lovely cactus...which to me seems more non-cactus because it has no spines, and it is an epiphytic plant...dark green, smooth and flowing. Ever since the time I saw the first one in picture, and then at Vickie's, I have been in love. If you go to her blog you can see the blooms! They are awesome, huge and purple!!! I will probably need to wait until next spring to see this one bloom, if it will. I plan to put it in a big pot, and keep taking cuttings on the longer peices and get myself a nice huge plant going!




According to Paghat, Cryptocereus anthonyanus (formerly Selenicereus anthonyanus) is an epiphytic cactus from Mexico. It can be grown either in orchid substrate, or in regular cactus potting soil with a bit of humus added. In the wild it attaches itself to trees, clinging by little aerial root filaments along the zigzagging succulent leaves, but is adaptable to terrestrial habits. It can be trained to climb a trellis, but looks best in a hanging basket from whence the lightning-shaped leaves will dangle two to four feet over the edge.

It loves strong yet indirect lighting. It does not need a lot of water & should be permitted to dry out entirely between waterings. It has its limits, however, & we did manage to neglect the plant for some while so that several leaves died, & so we put it in a spot where we'd be more apt to pay attention to it, & it rapidly bounced back with occasional watering.

It is nightblooming, & its flowers last only a single night in spring. It is common that specimens rare or never flower, but when they do so, they are usually rootbound in poor soil, then can produce many white & pink & maroon slender-petaled starburst blossoms, which begin to open right at dusk, releasing a pleasing fragrance intended to attract nocturnal pollinators.

Because the flowers are so quickly spent, this epiphyte is mainly only grown for the strange leaves which lend it the common name Ric-Rac Cactus, or occasionally Zig-Zag or Fishbone Cactus.

The species name is after St. Anthony. Is there was a Catholic myth which explains the reason for this name? It turns out that there is a traditional prayer to Anthony that pleads, "From thunder, lightning & storms, St. Anthony deliver us," for as it turns out, Anthony is called to whenever a Catholic is at risk of death in a blizzard, & might even be regarded as a patron saint of weather forcasting.

Seeking further a story that would explain Anthony's power over fierce weather, it turns out that among his many supernatural visions, induced by fasting & abuse of his own body, he hallucinated himself set-upon by demons in the form of tornados & hailstones & such like, with Satan having the form of a thunderbolt, as is stated in the gospel of Luke [10:18].

So as it turns out, the ric-rac cactus is manifestation of the devil!
What a great story!!!