Relocation

I've relocated to Lisle, IL after accepting a new position and have moved into an apartment, so the focus of this blog will be changing.  My family is staying in AZ, so Dove Manor remains in our hands and I will be visiting every other month or so, at which time I'll post updates on how things are faring in my absence.  In the meantime, I have brought most of my stapeliads and a few other succulents with me.  Future posts will highlight the surrounding area, as well as new additions to my stapeliad collection.  Prior to leaving Arizona, I took some photos of the gardens so that I'd have a baseline for comparison when I take my first trip back.

After hand-pollinating Euphorbia obesa flowers daily for over a week, I realized that I'd been successful when I noticed a number of the flowers were swelling with developing seed pods.  Since the pods burst open when ripe, I covered them with a nylon to capture the seeds.

Euphorbia obesa seed pods

Several of the succulents were flowering, as seen below.

Pleiospilos nelii 'split rock'

Gasteria liliputana

cotyledon 'White Sprite'

Other plants flowering or about to flower include the Anna apple, snapdragons, roses, and Black oil-seed sunflowers.

Anna apple already showing the swelling of pollinated fruit.

Snapdragons from last year's seeds.

Black Oil-seed Sunflower

There were several critters in the gardens recently, including an American Kestrel, a micro fly and a spider that had finished its' meal.

Falco sparverius, American Kestrel, 

Micro fly

Several plants were beginning to spring forth with new growth, including radishes, blueberries and the gladiolas.

Radishes in the ladder planter.

The first leaves on the new blueberry plants.

The glads pushing up are a sure sign of Spring.

Lastly, two of the Stapelias have bloomed since I arrived in IL on the 8th.

Stapelia rufa

Stapelia kwebensis

Until next time, here's hoping Spring finds its' way to Lisle, IL soon.