Death Comes to the Agave
One of my very favorite, dependable, beautiful, low-maintenance plants, agave harvardiana, shared its spectacular blooming mast with me and the neighborhood this summer. Alas, as is the nature of the plant, after it put its heart and soul into this bloom, it begins to...
A River Runs Through It
Well, not exactly. More like a hint of a creek or spring. I had a dry creek bed of gray/white rocks from Coleman, Texas, in my cactus garden. I had been reasonable happy with it all these years until I was inspired to do something different when I saw my friend...
An Awarded-Winning Mass of Lace Cactus Blooms
On May third I took a picture of this group of echinocereus reichenbachii, lace cactus. I counted fifty buds, more or less, at this time. But it’s hard to do! I may have counted a few more than once, and one or two might not have opened, or opened early by themselves...
Mammillaria Spinosissima
I bought this plant last year, maybe two years ago, to rescue it from the too-small pot from which offshoots were pushing their little heads up in search of room to grow. So I brought it home, repotted it, and the new crowns were relieved and happy and grew. This year...
Pretty in Pink
I was knocked out by all the pink that greeted me in the greenhouse this week. Pink is not unusual in cactus blooms; my Wyoming pediocactus are an early pink display, the outside cactus garden is splattered with pink in May from the echinocereus reichenbachii blooms,...
Another Busy Weekend-Books and Cactus
Not only did I just finish two busy weekends, those weekends were back-to-back! I told you about my adventures the weekend of March 30th. The next weekend, April 5-8, I sold books and bought cactus. This is what happened on that trip. My book, The Bright Lights of...
Lawn and Garden Show and Class Reunion Weekend
Why does everything happen at the same time? I signed up for the Hill Country Lawn and Garden show in February. I had participated the last two years and looked forward to doing it again. Then I got word that my high school was having another all 60s class reunion...
Not Much Going on in the Cactus Garden Right Now
You might have noticed I haven’t posted a cactus blog for some time now, not since January 15th. Besides having some other deadlines to meet, it’s still winter out there, ya know! Cactus gardens are pretty sad during the winter and on days like today when the...
Make Your Own Frost Cloth
I have a few outdoor cactus and agaves that require some protection in the winter, and I have used a variety of covers for them: five-gallon buckets turned upside down, the heavy-duty cardboard boxes that milk jugs are shipped in, used afghans and throws bought at the...
Woody Reminds Us of Tricks for Growing Best Plants
Woody Minnich from New Mexico gave a second presentation, the last presentation at the Mid-States Cactus and Succulent Conference this summer. Some if it we had heard before; some was new information; all of it was what we needed to hear. Repeats are always helpful,...
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