All Green Tuesday

One of my earliest memories is being lifted up high so that I could pull lemons off a tree. Even at about 18 months old, I loved lemons--I'd take a bite, shudder and grimace, and take another bite! My parents even recorded it in a home movie--a long, long time ago! Although I grew up around citrus orchards and loved all varieties of citrus, I did not plant my own citrus trees until the 1980s. We had one grapefruit tree and the two of us ended up eating all 92 grapefruits one year--not letting a single one go to waste. Then, for twenty years, I didn't have any citrus trees in my garden, until I purchased a Dwarf Meyer Lemon last year. It is in a huge pot, and will stay there. Currently, it has 20 lemons on its spindly branches, which I've had to tie up because the lemons are actually too heavy for the trunk and branches. The lemons are slowly turning yellow and ripening and will probably be ready by December. I found a split lemon last week and rather than throw it out, I cut it open and tasted it. It had a slightly sweet taste, far less tangy than I expected, even though it was far from ripe.

Earlier this year I purchased a couple of these unidentified plants for $1.00 at a Dollar store while looking for some plastic containers. I know a lot about desert plants and can identify most of them, but I'm usually at a loss with other types of plants. Recently I learned that this plant (the second one dried up within days of purchase) is an African Violet. I've learned the hard way not to get water on the leaves, as they invariably die. It's hard to water without getting the leaves wet because the leaves are so low they touch the soil. It has yet to bloom. After I learned what kind of plant it is, I read about its care, and surprisingly, I had done all the right things--location, watering, etc. Except for using extra care in keeping the leaves dry!

Does anyone know the name of this succulent? This was another unlabeled plant I picked up last year. It's done very well in the house, so I will continue to keep it indoors, but would like to know its genera and species so that I can learn more about it. I can't find it in my succulent dictionary.

Update:

(My blog friend, Georg, a succulent expert from South Africa, has identified this plant as Haworthia cymbiformis var. umbraticola. Others suggested H. cooperi, and Georg says this is not too far from wrong, as the two species do mix where distributions overlap.)

Sansevieria trifasciata 'Moonshine'

This plant came to me as a free offshoot from our Cactus and Succulent Society monthly meeting, where folks bring in unwanted plants, offshoots and cuttings. It has done very well and has put out a number of offshoots of its own now, almost filling the large pot I have it in. This hybrid has become my favorite Sansevieria because of its wonderful coloration.