TACSS Fall Seminar 2017 in Houston
I had the pleasure of traveling to Houston for the 2017 Texas Association of Cactus and Succulent Societies (TACSS) Fall Seminar on Saturday, October 7. I also had the pleasure of staying with old friend Jenice Williamson who now lives in Houston, and she ferried me...
Hang this Huernia High
Several years ago Delores Harvey gave me two succulents, a stapelia lepida and this huernia macrocarpa, the plant to the right of the donkey tail sedum. I have enjoyed both and have written about both, but always found it hard to appreciate the blooms on the...
Trying Another Sage Bush
I was in Lubbock the other day after our general area had been blessed with quite a bit of rain; nothing like Harvey-drenched Houston, but some good rain. Various varieties of Texas sage were absolutely outdoing themselves all over town. Bright lavender/purple...
The Tucson Ferocactus Finally Bloomed!
I went to my first Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) convention in 2011 at Tucson, Arizona. The Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society served as hosts. One thing they had done to welcome everyone to their city for the convention was to provide everyone who...
Trimming the Yucca
One of my oldest cactus beds is a raised rock garden with very few cactus, a constant supply of agaves that come up from the roots of deceased plants, sedum for ground cover, snowy mound artemisia, rocks, and large yuccas. I always keep the bed weeded but have been...
Yes, Virginia, There is such a thing as a cactus convention!
There is also such a thing as an association dedicated to cacti and succulents, more than one association in fact. I happen to be a member of one, the Cactus and Succulent Society of America, and attended their 37th Biennial Convention in Temple,...
Trimming from Top to Bottom
My two adenium obesums, aka desert roses, were looking pretty sad coming out of the winter back in February, having dropped their leaves through the winter as these arid-land natives are wont to do in cold weather. I couldn’t remember the last time they had bloomed,...
Coryphantha Rungonii
My coryphantha rungonii always surprises me when it blooms, and it did again just the other day. I googled coryphantha to find out more about this particular cactus and looked at some of the images of coryphanthas and really couldn’t find one that looked much like...
Chamaelobivia Blooms are a Stunning Color
This little cactus bloomed yesterday and reopened today, so I thought it deserved some recognition. Chamaelobivia is a hybrid of chamaecereus (peanut cactus) and lobivia, which happen to both now be classified in the echinopsis family. Chamaelobivia rose quartz...
I Wish I Had More Blue Barrel Cactus
I was given permission to collect cactus at a ranch in the Marfa, Texas, area a few years ago and was delighted to find these chubby little blue barrels that I thought were just a fatter version of the horse cripplers I had gathered in Muleshoe and in the Texas Hill...
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