Xeriscape Done Right
For years we have watched the flower bed, and I use that term loosely, lining the front of our house get more and more overgrown with trailing vinca and nutgrass, the evergreen bushes at each end covering more and more area, and the knockout roses getting more and...
The Double Adenium Blooms Again, But Wait-There’s More!
I shared this adenium with you last year when it bloomed, "The Adenium with the Double-Petaled Flower," July 10, 2023. It is blooming again now, but this time it has two slightly different flowers, thanks to the fact it is a grafted plant. This is how it looked last...
How Cactus Get Their Names
I have talked to you before about taxonomy and identifying your cactus and succulents (Learn Those Plants' Names!," July 14, 2022.) And it never hurts to go back and read that article again. But the other day when I told you about my new Pachypodium succulentum x....
Pachypodium Succulentum x. Bispinosum
I picked up this little plant at the Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) convention in Colorado Springs this year, 2023. I had not seen one before, but then it's easy to see plants you've never seen before at these conventions! Vendors bring all kinds of...
The Trip to Marble Falls
The Highland Lakes Native Plant Society invited me to give a talk on landscaping with drought-tolerant plants, so of course, I said yes. The meeting would be on January 20 at the Marble Falls Public Library, a mere ten minutes from our house at Lake LBJ, which meant I...
Dorstenia Foetida is a Weird Little Plant
I came home from the MId-States Cactus and Succulent Conference in 2022 with a desire to add a dorstenia to my collection. Mike Hellmann gave a presentation on the species and donated one to the rare plant auction which brought $750! So naturally, I wanted one, too....
Espostoa Melanostele, the Peruvian Old Lady Cactus
I have had my Espostoa melanostele from back in the time when I foolishly failed to keep up with pertinent information on my collection, so that means it has to be over ten years old-well over ten years old. And when I got it, I do remember it was just a clump of two...
Succulents with Altitude-the 2023 CSSA Convention in Colorado Springs
The Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) held its biennial convention in Colorado Springs this year. Here's how it went. I arrived July 12 at the Colorado Springs Marriott to register and get settled in. I met up with members from the Austin Cactus and...
The Melocactus is Full of Surprises
I wrote about my new Melocactus Salvadorensis back in November last year, "My New Melocactus," November 3, 2022, and it had some small flowers on its cephalium, the structure on the top of the plant that grows tall and makes tiny, pretty pink flowers. When I bought...
The Adenium with the Double-Petaled Flower
The grafted adenium that was a gift from my daughter-in-law just bloomed a lovely flower with two rows of petals, which is called a double-petaled adenium. It came without a tag, other than just Adenium, so I can’t identify it exactly. Adeniums are commonly called a...
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