Aquarius

I went to the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth on the weekend. I remember going before when I was younger, but it was about time for another visit, plus, there’s now the added bonus of having my SLR camera. I was a bit wary about it at first, but it seems as though photography is allowed as long as you disable the flash.

My favourite image is of this Jellyfish, it gives the impression that it’s dancing or as one of my friends said ’showing you to your seat’.

There was also this one small illuminated tank being used as some sort of viewable hatchery. Inside was a line stretching from either side supporting egg-cases of various fish. I think this one is a dogfish, but there were also lots of rays too. What I hadn’t realised at first, however, was that you could see them (in embryonic form) moving around inside their eggs!

Finished sandpipers!

After 2 weeks of coating myself in sawdust I’m pleased to have finished (and emerged with) my sandpipers.

Powered by turning the handle, the whole thing works via a fairly basic wooden automata mechanism. The 3 cams underneath push up wooden pegs, each attached to one of the sandpipers legs. The other leg is fixed to the top of the piece by a handmade wire hinge; with the help of gravity, the bird is made to dip up and down.

I’m always fond of (re)using salvaged materials and found objects, and the contents of this piece displays no exception. For example, the frame and birds are constructed from scrap wood, the handle is a large ceramic bead found while beachcombing, and the wheel something I picked out of a box at a car boot sale.

Altogether I think it worked well, especially considering my hit or miss approach to constructing things. I’d like to think I’ll make more of these, but the only drawback is the amount of time it takes, a valuable factor in terms of course deadlines.

Talking about this piece, it seems people don’t immediately grasp the scale of it all, so heres a photo for good measure. For as long as I can remember I’ve always enjoyed and find it comfortable to work  small. I like to think it has the benefit of drawing an audience into the art itself, capturing curiosity through the details, but also holding the ability to just as easily be ignored.

(The little insect in the foreground of the .gif is a pleasing case of serendipity)

Sleeve bird

I was lucky enough to have my camera near when Kiwi, my green-cheeked conure, took up residence in my jumper sleeve. Mischievous bird…

Bloomin’ eck!

Upon receiving this Copiapoa hypogaea at the end of September, I thought it would prove difficult to grow, but so far it hasn’t shown any obvious signs of dissatisfaction. If anything, I was very surprised to see it’d bloomed today, particularly because my plants should be going into dormancy now.

I pollinated the almost luminescent lemon-yellow flower just in case hypogaea is self-fertile, but i’m doubtful of any seeds setting.

Update!

Today the flower opened up even more. Perhaps this is characteristic of this plant, but I haven’t seen any of my other cacti do this. The stamen look brilliant splayed out over the outwardly drooping petals.

Sandpipers

Here are a few images of a work-in-progress for the first module of my second year art degree. I will explain their purpose more thoroughly in a later post, but until then, some wooden sandpipers and the keyphrase “working in the environment” will have to suffice.

The 2cm long models were/are carved from scraps of wood with the aid of my dremel and sander tip. After further sanding, drilling, and inserting of wire, they were painted roughly with acrylic, using for the majority a drybrushing technique.

(click images to enlarge)

Seed list

This is a list of the seeds collected from my plants this year:

• Gymnocalycium damsii 1 x Gymnocalycium damsii 2 or mihanovichii
• Gymnocalycium damsii 1 x Gymnocalycium damsii 2 or mihanovichii
• Gymnocalycium damsii 2 x Gymnocalycium damsii 1 or  mihanovichii
• Gymnocalycium damsii 2 x Gymnocalycium ochoterenae
• Gymnocalycium quehlianum x Gymnocalycium damsii
• Gymnocalycium calochlorum x Gymnocalycium damsii or ochoterenae
• Gymnocalycium calochlorum x ?
• Echinopsis hybrids
• Rebutia species
• Turbinicarpus macrochele x Turbinicarpus klinkerianus

Although this is more than enough, I don’t know whether it’s worth buying some more from SuccSeed, as there are others I’d also like to grow in my collection. Perhaps for now i’ll use this list as a reference while I decide…

A seedling update

It’s been nearly 6 months since I sowed this years seed batch, and 2 since I pricked out the seedlings into a better growing medium. They all appear to be growing well and steady, fattening out and producing slightly bigger spines.

The baldianum and erolesii seem to be the most tolerant of the seedlings, and on average, the best growers. It’s nice to see the difference between the two types of baldianum seed that was sown together, and the deep green epidermis the erolesii have retained.

The mesopotamicum and damsii ssp. evae, on the other hand, are not quite so large in numbers and are more sensitive to light, temperature, and watering amounts. Perhaps they’d do better in an even more moisture retaining soil.

The Gymnocalycium calochlorum crop is a sturdy one, and seems to owe this to the freshness of the seed (collected last year from my own plant) and the large amount of seed that pod produced. This quality appears to be very benificial when it comes down to reproducing. The only Echinopsis obrepanda that survived past germination is also doing well, reaching a size larger than any of the other seedlings.

Moth & Sempervivum

I need some sort of moth guidebook at hand to find out what species this is, but regardless, I’m pleased that I noticed it sitting on this dried Sempervivum flower branch. Camouflaged from a distance, its colours blend in well with the surroundings and compliment the withering purple petals, making not only a good photo opportunity, but also a reminder that autumn is upon us.

Brown moth and Sempervivum

Presents!

It was my birthday a week ago so I was fortunate enough to receive some lovely gifts. Among other things like a propagator, clock parts, and terracotta pots, I was also given some plants!

Copiapoa hypogaea,  Rebutia muscula,  Mammillaria heyderi hemisphaericus

This also included 10 Sulcorebutia arenacea, which I potted up all in the same container.

One that didn’t need coating in soil, however, was this pillow my girlfriend bought me. Knowing that such a material existed is almost just as pleasing as it was to receive it in the first place. The imagery is very similar to the illustrations you find in 1970’s cacti publications.

Something I had been anticipating saving enough money for and purchasing myself was Graham Charles’s Gymnocalycium in Habitat and Culture, though I was lucky enough to have been given this too! The author was also kind enough to have signed it, making it furthermore one of my most treasured on the bookshelf. Since I’ve had it I’ve been constantly browsing through the vast amount of pages, always finding something new and interesting in the intensive literature or high-quality images of habitat, species, variation, drawings, and old reference publications. The thoroughness of this book also makes it a modern piece of work that’ll have use for years to come.

Gymnocalycium damsii fruit

Gymnocalycium damsii

Fruit inside the pod of this particular plant is a surprisingly deep and vibrant pink. My other damsii also produces pink fruit, but not so intensely, bearing a much paler white colour similar to that of most Gymnocalyciums. Judging by the amount of seed and the size of the pod, this one appears to have been pollinated well too.

Gymnocalycium in habitat

Here’s a link to a page I stumbled across a while ago.

Written in Czech, it’s fairly easy to navigate around even if you don’t have Google Translate on, and definitely worth a browse. There are a few albums, but one simply titled “Nature” features over 60 photo’s of Gymnocalycium living in their natural habitat. It’s amazing to see how various species are positioned in a landscape not too dissimilar to areas near where I live in Britain (ignoring the temperature and weather factors, of course).

This page makes me want to go on one of those cacti expeditions even more now than first contemplated.

Lophophora williamsii

This is the first time I’ve seen my Lophophora bloom, a much anticipated event ever since I saw the little bud rising from the wooly depths of the apex a week or so ago. The plant itself has grown quite a bit this year, very slowly, but noticeably so in comparison to other summers.

Unfortunately I have nothing to cross it with, though I may change that in the near future and purchase another Lophophora, or failing that, try and attempt a hybrid with Turbinicarpus.

Turbinicarpus hoferi

Today I received another plant, Turbinicarpus hoferi. I’m building up quite a nice little collection of this genus now, and find myself appreciating them more and more ever since my decision this year to trust my abilities as a grower.

Turbinicarpus hoferi

According to Wikipedia the plant is on the critically endangered species list, though I assume that applies to its existence in its natural habitat, rather than in cultivation. It’s reassuring to know this one was propagated from seed within a collection.

Possible adaptations to come

I’m thinking about creating some informative profiles about my plants to use as reference guides for both myself, and any curious passers-by who happen to have the same ones. It’ll be a more coherent bit of documentation as opposed to my posts, but nevertheless, still a personal one. I’m just wondering now, how i’m going to go about displaying it.

I worry that if I did a page for each one there’d be too many to fit nicely on the sidebar, but the same goes for if they were all in one. I’ll have to think about this further…

Echinopsis seed pods

Another set of seed pods were found split today, both of them with the divide facing downwards. These belong to a couple Echinopsis hybrids I bought a year or so ago from a nurseryman on ebay, named Echinopsis (Bilsdale Hybrid) “Orange Star” and Echinopsis (Bilsdale Hybrid) “Scent”.

As I only have three Echinopsis plants, they must have been cross-pollinated with each other for the ovaries to set seed. This renders the cacti further hybrids, with one of the possible parents being Echinopsis subdenudata. Hopefully this is the case, as I’d like some more woolly areoles in my collection!