The Carlsbad Caverns Trip

You may have read the previous post about my trip up Guadalupe Peak, "Guadalupe Peak; the Highest Mountain in Texas," December 15, 2024. My fellow trekkers and I stayed at the Whites City Inn which is conveniently located on the way to Guadalupe Mountains National...

Guadalupe Peak: the Highest Mountain in Texas

I climbed the highest mountain in Africa in 2007, so I thought it only fitting that I climb the highest mountain in Texas, too. Just like with Mount Kilimanjaro, no one wanted to climb Guadalupe Peak with me, either. I kept putting it off, thinking I would find...

Aloinopsis Aloides is Blooming Now

I have had this  Aloinopsis aliodes long enough that it dates back to when I was negligent of keeping good records and dates. So I don't know how old it really is, but if it goes back far enough that I didn't write down the date of purchase, well, it must be pretty...

A Different Ariocarpus

My newest ariocarpus is Ariocarpus fissuratus Godzilla,a new variety most likely from Japan. The Japanese are real fans of ariocarpus and adeniums and have done some amazing things developing new varieties of both. Godzilla is a very green plant with nubby skin on its...

Flowers at Night?

I had been watching my Ariocarpus bravoanus for several days anxiously waiting for it to bloom. Then on Tuesday (October 22), there it was! You can see some of the plant in this picture. The next day the Ariocarpus agavoides next to the bravoanus also opened. You have...

A Fort Worth Weekend

I traveled to Fort Worth last weekend for the annual Texas Association of Cactus and Succulent Societies (TACSS)  fall seminar and wound up also enjoying the Fort Worth Botanical Garden, the private garden of Ross and Karen Floyd, and had a glimpse of how the big boys...

Rainbows, Hailstorms, and Cactus Flowers

I left Tuesday, September 17, for Edgewood, New Mexico, to give a cactus talk to the Santa Fe Cactus and Succulent Club. I stayed with Woody and Kathy Minnich at their home in Edgewood. Woody is an expert in the cactus world and grows and sells all kinds of cacti and...

Thelocactus Tulensis v. Longispinus

I have had this cactus a long time, from back when I didn't keep good records. I know I have had it a long time because of its size. It's not my prettiest cactus, but it keeps growing and blooming, and it's one that you don't always see for sale, so, of course, I...

The El Dorado Cactus Rescue Project

I toured the El Dorado Cactus Rescue project while in Santa Fe for the Mid States Cactus and Succulent Conference. I found it to be quite a worthwhile and ambitious project, I must say! The rescue project started in 2002 when cactus aficionados John "Obie" Oberhausen...

Echinopsis Hertrichiana, aka Golden Torch

I ordered this Echinopsis hertrichiana from Huntington Gardens in California through the CSSA Cactus journal in 2020. I kept it in a pot so I could bring it in during the winter because it was small, and I wasn't sure how well it would take our winters. So, for four...