Flowering Lithops

By David Marsden @anxiousgardener

It was only as I was damping down one of the greenhouses

that I noticed the flowers.

For most of the year, my lithops sit in their pots like little pebble plants or living stones (their other names).

But in autumn, having spent several months doing very little, their time in the limelight has arrived.

The flowers are exquisite

and last a few days.

Lithops need very little care:

April 2012

start watering them when the new leaves appear through the old shriveled pair in spring; carry on through to autumn (I water mine once or twice a week) and stop completely over winter.  Pot them in a sharp-draining compost mix and put them on a hot, sunny windowsill or greenhouse.

Just don’t forget about their brief moment of glory (as I almost did).

It is quite worth the wait.