OP, were lithops on your mind for the same reason they’ve been on my mind recently? “All Hail West Texas”?
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“Absolute Lithops Effect” is the last song on All Hail West Texas but was the first song written; it is the summation of the album, the opening statement and the closing remark. A lithop is a hardy plant, a succulent that looks like a rock until it blooms its gangly flowers. The narrator in this song is waiting, stuck in a way that feels painful and raw, but they insist on their own survival. No matter what, even if they remain trapped in this room, they will survive: “And I, I feel sure that my wounds will heal/ And I, I will bloom here in my room/ With a little water and a little bit of sunlight/ And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy.”
This is the whole point. This is what John Darnielle has been saying for over 30 years as the Mountain Goats: You can survive, and you can survive on your own terms no matter what they are, and you will emerge from the darkness into the light if you have to drag yourself there bloody and howling. You have a light within you that no one can extinguish if you refuse to let them. Do whatever you have to do to survive.
With a little water and sunlight and tender mercy, you will survive.
Lithops are pretty cool and a crazy exercise in patience. I've become very interested in succulent plants in general; they are rewarding to care for and propagate, and don't need so much attention. It's been very meditative taking care of these plants, whereas most other houseplants were stressful. There are a bunch of beautiful and fascinating varieties. Lithops are tricky though since they are so incredibly easy to overwater, but plants such as Jade and Haworthia and Echeveria and their various hybrids are much more forgiving.
I grew (and killed) lots of 'living stones' when I was a kid. It is a real exercise in patience to not water them - I suppose if your only houseplants were Lithops, it would make things simpler at least. Maybe I should devote a single window to them to see if I can force myself to stay away longer.
I have a few lithops, they are hardy but I have not managed to keep the all alive they need water from splashing rain drops but not directly applied water in my experience. I shelter them from direct rain and it seems heat and cold are not a concern. I have had one flower but I was away so I have never seen a flower in full bloom. I have seen a coue split in two, to form two separate individuals, something Wikipedia says they don't do.
really good plants if you travel a lot.
One of my favorites is Mesembryanthemum crystallinum[1], these came up in the discussion on Freeman Dyson and his will to create plants with warm blood [0]
My lithops is about five years old, it has flowered once and divided once in that time. I give it a teaspoon of water every couple months if it looks wrinkly.
Nice! Yeah IMO waiting until they're wrinkly is the key. I killed quite a few through overwatering until I finally realised I needed to be more patient.
My wife bought me five different coloured lithops for my birthday a few years ago. They're all still alive, and I think all of them have flowered at least once. I never water them unless they're wrinkly; when they are, I give them a small amount of water each day until they're smooth again.
Anyone who finds this interesting is probably already watching the YouTube channel 'Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't' but on the rare chance someone isn't:
lithops activities involve patching cracks with mortar, ensuring adequate stockpiles of stone and tools are on hand to replace any failures that occur due to extreme weather events, centuries of erosion, or physical shocks.
which brings us, inevitably, to lithsecops
some leading security-conscious lith-oriented organisations have embraced a shift down mindset to incorporate security thinking within existing lithops teams, either by embedding security experts in the organisational groundmass, or upskilling existing practitioners. many security concerns can be addressed easily and cheaply within the geological cycle by designing and forming rocks that are too heavy and awkwardly shaped to be easily stolen or otherwise misused by the majority of unauthorised actors.
It amazes me how many semi common house plants only ever naturally lived in some small corner of the world, but can be found in livings rooms around the globe! I visited Puerto Rico a couple years ago and was floored to see one of the most common house plants (snake plant) growing everywhere, ten feet tall and thriving. Really cool. If anyone is searching for a good WFH hobby, houseplants are great! Buy the right ones and you can still travel for weeks at a time!
——
“Absolute Lithops Effect” is the last song on All Hail West Texas but was the first song written; it is the summation of the album, the opening statement and the closing remark. A lithop is a hardy plant, a succulent that looks like a rock until it blooms its gangly flowers. The narrator in this song is waiting, stuck in a way that feels painful and raw, but they insist on their own survival. No matter what, even if they remain trapped in this room, they will survive: “And I, I feel sure that my wounds will heal/ And I, I will bloom here in my room/ With a little water and a little bit of sunlight/ And a little bit of tender mercy, tender mercy.”
This is the whole point. This is what John Darnielle has been saying for over 30 years as the Mountain Goats: You can survive, and you can survive on your own terms no matter what they are, and you will emerge from the darkness into the light if you have to drag yourself there bloody and howling. You have a light within you that no one can extinguish if you refuse to let them. Do whatever you have to do to survive.
With a little water and sunlight and tender mercy, you will survive.
https://www.stereogum.com/2176877/mountain-goats-all-hail-we...