I think I've got one of these in a planter on my back balcony. There is something alien and amazing about the flowering of succulents. If you're in Southern Cal

I think I've got one of these in a planter on my back balcony. There is something alien and amazing about the flowering of succulents. If you're in Southern California (or planning a visit), I highly recommend the Huntington Library and Gardens (near Pasadena), where they have a magnificent collection. On that topic, I'm going to take this opportunity to quote one of my favorite passages from Walter Pater, from the beginning of his essay on Michelangelo, since I don't know when I'll next have the opportunity to do so (at least here on Hacker News): Critics of Michelangelo have sometimes spoken as if the only characteristic of his genius were a wonderful strength, verging, as in the things of the imagination great strength always does, on what is singular or strange. A certain strangeness, something of the blossoming of the aloe, is indeed an element in all true works of art; that they shall excite or surprise us is indispensable. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2398/2398-h/2398-h.htm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2398/2398-h/2398-h.htm