Boy, that plant (#4) sure wants to be outside! It's pretty gangly. Does it have sticky white sap when you nick it or break off a leaf? If so, I'm thinking synadenium - but it's hard to be sure with such lanky growth and so few leaves. Others will doubtless weigh in with other opinions.

Photo #1 is a beautiful gasteria - I can't tell you which one. I have the same one, but it came to me unnamed. The fuzzy grean-leafed plant behind it is Cotyledon ladismithienses, a.k.a. bear's paw. I don't usually like cutesy common names, but that one's pretty accurate.

#2 is a really cool senecio, whose species name escapes me right now. #3, upper left, is haworthia truncata; the plant in the foreground is some type of sedum, I'm guessing.

Patrick,
The gangly cactus is a true cactus that I believe may grow near larger plants in the wild and scramble up them. as the stem ages, it becomes woody and not a whole lot thicker. The closest ID I came up with was Quiabentia chacoensis, but the long spines are present on new growth and the one I have doesn't get the long spines until the stem ages somewhat. The leaves are thick and fleshy. It isn't a Pereskia either.
I have had the mother plant for seventeen years and always cut it back and TRY to give cuttings away, but nobody likes the tiny hair-like barbs that are hard to remove from your skin, kinda like an Opuntia. I've often thought it may be some type of Opuntia, but have never been able to confirm that.

Kathy

Patrick,
That is some Gasteria in pic one. The Scrambling cactus in pic four is a type of Pereskiopsis, I donâÂÂt know the species. They can become a large shrub or scramble into other shrubs or trees. They make excellent grafting stock for seedlings.
Dan
Lincoln, NE USDA 5

Kathy,

I think you have a gasteria excelsa on pic #1.
( check it at www.gasteria.org )

Eric
The Netherlands

I agree that the Gasteria looks like excelsa, and that one's a beauty! Just wait until it grows up (excelsa is the largest Gasteria). How do you grow your Cotyledon? Mine seem to linger, and slowly lose their leaves, eventually perishing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gasteria excelsa

rjm710,
My Cotyledon gets put outside in the summer (June -sept), and it gets virtually no water, full winter sun, and cool temperatures in the winter. My plants get their share of neglect in the winter months.

And thanks to everyone for their help in identifing my plants.

Kathy