A Look at Several Stapeliads

by | Jan 6, 2021 | Cactus Are Cool

I have talked about stapeliads before, but I’ve gone through a dry spell with no flowers lately. The spell was finally broken the other day, and I just had to share again!Stapeliads  can be found in a variety of countries, but this one, Stapelia lepida, is native...

St. Mary’s and the POWs

by | Jan 3, 2021 | Bright Lights

In 1910 St. Mary’s Parish was founded in the tiny town of Umbarger, Texas. The first church building St. Mary’s had was a wooden structure  on the south side of the railroad. In 1929 the present structure was built on the other side of the railroad in town and...

The Cluttered Cactus Garden in Winter

by | Dec 14, 2020 | Cactus Are Cool

The cactus garden looks a mess in winter. The poor cholla and prickly pear do their sad droopy thing. Boxes, gallon cans, and five-gallon buckets stand upside down over plants needing protection; blankets and comforters do the same. Plants that are truly cold-hardy...

Pecan Cake is Our Answer to Fruitcake

by | Dec 11, 2020 | Bright Lights

You may like fruitcake; we don’t, particularly. So a Christmas tradition at our house is Sito’s pecan cake instead. Sito was my aunt, Mother’s sister, whose real name was Gladys Tate Drum Gearheart. Have no idea where we nieces and nephews came up with Sito, and those...

Stapelia Grandiflora Puts on a Show

by | Nov 22, 2020 | Cactus Are Cool

I’ve written about these stinky flowers before-“The Stinky Flower,” August 4, 2014, but that’s been a while back, and this time the plant just outdid itself with blooms, so I thought I’d share again. I realized the plant was loaded with buds the end of October. One...