Cotyledon Orbiculata Has Unique Flowes
Aren’t these just the neatest little flowers? The plant, as you can see, is not anything special, but it also is not ugly. The flowers, on the other hand, are delightful and unusual. The blooms measure only a little more than an inch in length, but they are...
Get Yourself Some Rain Barrels
We added two new rain barrels for collecting rain water-yes it does occasionally rain here-and snow, which is supposed to hit tonight, so I thought I’d share my barrel system with you in case you’d like to try it yourself. Rain can be collected in...
Watch Out for Mealy Bugs
By mid to late winter the mealy bugs have decided to descend in full force on plants in the greenhouse. Lack of air circulation seems to be the prime factor with these pesky little bugs because this is when I always have the most trouble with them, when they...
Keeping Your Cactus Warm
When I started this, we had had below freezing weather for too many days in a row. I lost count, but suffice it say I have worn my long underwear under my jeans to stay warm in and out of the house. I probably don’t need them in the house, but it saves having to...
The Quintessential Fat Plant
The most impressive fat plants in my collection would be my pachypodium lamerei and pachypodium geayi, commonly known as Madagascar palms, since that is where these two pachypodiums occur in nature. P. lamerei has a wide, graceful leaf. This plant had...
More Fat Plants
As promised, the other fat plant, pachypodium baronii, that was due to bloom, did, and this is what it looks like. Similar to the pachypodium lealii saundersii, but a whiter flower and some difference in the spines. And you can see the thick body that qualifies...
Pachypodium Lealii Saundersii
The most easily recognized pachypodium is probably pachypodium lamerii or p. geayi the so-called Madagascar palm; this is not that pachypodium! Madagascar palms are from Madagascar; this pachypodium is from South Africa, but has the necessary fat body...
Decorate Your Dish Garden With Railroad Spikes
If you happen to be in possession of old, discarded, rusty, railroad spikes and no clue what you planned to use them for in the first place, here’s an idea. Use them to decorate a dish garden. Or stick them in your outdoor garden. I brought these home with me...
I Catch The Lithops Blooming
When these mysterious little plants, lithops lesliei, bloom, it is always such a pleasant surprise. And easy to miss since they open in the evening when I may not be checking on them any more for the day. But I was in the right place at the right time and wanted to...
Leuchtenbergia Principis, aka Agave Cactus
I have been watching and impatiently waiting for this cactus to bloom, and finally it did. I suspect our current overcast skies and lack of sunshine delayed the unveiling, but bloom it did. And it even stayed open for a couple of days, a nice plus....
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