Orbea Variegata, and various flowers–

This guy just came into bloom–Orbea Variegata, belonging to a family of South African succulents called Stapeliads–

It’s a beautiful flower, but because their pollinators are flies, they smell of carrion–Another member of the same sub-family is Heurnia Zebrina, below–It has been blooming most of the summer–

These I have been told are called toad lilies–I haven’t read up on them, but they are quite beautiful–

They have a very slight scent–and have just come into bloom–

There are several kinds of ginger our landlords planted in the studio garden:

This one is pale peach and has a light floral scent with hints of citrus–

This white ginger is a larger more robust grower–It has a heavier scent reminiscent of gardenias and lemons–I keep cutting these for the house since the scent can fill up a whole room–

I had to get a photo of my Venus Flytrap–He (and two others) has been feasting on flies all summer–In fact, you can see the carcasses of several dead flies in this image–The closed traps have bugs inside them being digested by the plant–Gruesome for the bugs, fascinating for me–

Blooming in the dining room, this guy has just started opening his buds–He is a Zygopetalum orchid–This one is an un-named hybrid, and this is the first time I have seen his flowers–

I am really pleased he bloomed for me, and the bonus (as with most Zygopetalums) is his wonderful, heavy scent–that of hyacinth, but with a hint of tobacco– if that makes sense–Interestingly, the scent fades as it gets dark, returning when the daylight hits him, and then by mid afternoon it is very strong–I will post more images of him as the flowers all open–

OK, I can’t resist, here is another picture of Orbea Variegata: