Flowering now September 2007

[tonyg]

Nerine masonorum is sometimes confused with Nerine filifolia.  I think this is N masonorum, certainly that is the name it arrived with.  Easy under cold glass here it coped with being potbound for at least the last 5 years.  Repotted and divided this summer (it never quite loses its leaves) it has responded with a generous show of the small flowers.  Each about the size of my thumbnail, they make a great show en masse.

[Lesley Cox]

The colour and the frilliness are right, and the dark red buds, but usually it has a rounded flower head, or slightly flattish on top.

[Hans J]

Hi Maggi and Lesley !!!

You write :

Maggi :"So, you have an ape for a pet and not a cat?"   

Lesley:"Yes, definitely a cat's tail."

So - please look here :

Thats the difference

[Maggi Young]

Now I realise the difference, Hans    I think the cat's tail needs more watering to make the flowers!

[Joakim B]

Hans
So the cat that has dug down in the sand has two tails of which one is blomming That is amazing
Nice cat
Joakim

[Hans J]

Mhhhh- yes Maggi - but my cat "Felix" means he has to get more feed 
water is not so interesting for him ...

[Maggi Young]

Some  milk for him, then , to cool him as he lies enjoying the sunshine.
Our Lily dog is lying in the sun... "helping" Ian as he sows seeds. She especially likes to help in the sunshine.

[Paul T]

Maggi,

It isn't helping..... it's overseeing.  Making sure that he does it right.  "Helping" would involve effort, which would mean the sunshine couldn't be enjoying as much!! 

Hans,

If you're REALLY going to do a proper comparison you need to have the cat, the cacti and an ape all in the same picture.  Do you think you can arrange that for us?  That would make sure we could tell which it looked the most like.  Some nice lemur I think would be a suitable tail for comparison purposes!! 

[Hans J]

Maggi - do you know why this animals laying in the sun ?

The reason is can not eat ( like human ) vitamin A - but the sun helps to produce this viatamin self

Paul - you are rigth !!! -but we have not so much money here ....maybe you could send me one ?

[Paul T]

Hans,

Gee, I would...... but I got rid of my last lemur only a week ago.  Now if it had been before then I would have sent it to you.  Honest!!! 

I don't think we even have the right type of lemur at the zoo here in Canberra, so a night time ape-napping wouldn't be of much help either.   

DEspite all that.... the Cactus really is rather spectacular, with those strong red flowers and the pale spines.  You must be pleased with it having such a nice floral display at the moment.  The cat's quite nice as well!! 

[Maggi Young]

Yes, both Lily and Felix are helping themselves by their sun-bathing.
 Paul, Lily says she IS HELPING....her very presence assits Ian by making his surrounding and view (her) more pleasant and relaxed. She is a small dog with big opinions

[Hans J]

Paul ,

In this days is the daugther of a friend of mine for a trip ( half year ) in Australia ....maybe if she will travel back to Germany she could bring me such a lemure

Again to this cacti :
This is a really rare new species - it was found before few years ( 2003 ) and it's descriptet from Krahn & Diers , I'm normaly not so interestet for this kind of cacti but a friend has offered me a part of a plant -this is orginal material from the finder !
This plants ( I have testet self ) are not self fertil - but I know from a other friend that he has bought some seeds - if you are interestet so I will look for the source .
The interesting of this story is that the genus Hildewinteria was for a long time a monotypical genus
( H. auerispina ) and now is found a second species ....

[Maggi Young]

It is good that your plant is flowering so soon, then. It is so exciting to have such a rare plantwhich is happy.

[Hans J]

Maggi - with Cactus I have never problems -I grow it since more than 30 years ....

[Lesley Cox]

A cat's tail definitely, only difference being lack of stripes. And anyway, apes don't have tails! Re the Canberra zoo. I read recently that the only difference between a UK zoo and and an Australian zoo is that in Australia, on the outside of the enclosure there's a "recipe" card.