Non-predatory spiderling

Last summer, I begged a tiny clipping off someone's spider plant; just a couple of inches long. It spent the winter on a shady, cool (cold, often) windowsill, and now it's sending out its long shoots and spiderlings. And flowering!

Three flowers, two buds. And the beginnings of a new plant.

The petals are about 1 cm. long.

Anyone want a clipping?

(It's been raining, I've been sneezing and sniffling; I've stayed inside, out of the wind and rain.)

Christmas orchid

When I moved to Campbell River, three years ago, I bought a baby orchid; three stalks, a handful of leaves, a few inches tall. Now it's a foot and a half tall (45 cm.), has air roots and leaves sticking out in all directions. I've repotted it once.

And now, it has bloomed. In time for Christmas!

Better than a Christmas tree.

(I'm back. I got myself in over my head in things to do, but I've recovered my sanity now. I think.)

In a sunny window.

Last June, I bought a couple of living stones.

Aka λίθος (lithos) and ὄψ (ops) "Stone face"; Lithops.

Succulents like the cacti, but from a different family, these tiny plants grow in hot, extremely dry climates. They are originally from southern Africa.

The leaves grow in pairs; when one pair grows out of the gap between the two, the old ones dry up and drop off. Slowly, though; this one has had the four leaves since June. Flower buds will also grow out of the gap, one per year. (If I'm taking proper care of them, and I'm lucky.)

Leaf surface.

Cacti protect themselves from grazing herbivores with sharp, often nasty spines. Lithops pretend to be stones, growing almost flat against the dry soil. The top of the leaf is like a window, allowing light to penetrate without exposing much of the plant to view.

Dissected Lithop. Photo by CT Johansson, on Wikipedia.

Longitudinal section of a Lithops plant, showing the epidermal window at the top, the translucent succulent tissue, the green photosynthetic tissue, and the decussate budding leaves growing between the mature leaves. (Wikipedia)

Instructions on the care of these plants is confusing. Some sites say to water only in summer; others say only in winter. Wikipedia tells me to water only after the old leaves dry up, but to stop before winter. So far, I've been watering once a week, but I'll quit now for the winter.

I'm hoping for flowers.

The flowers are often sweetly scented. (Wikipedia)