Cactus, Succulents, and Heavy Rain
Muleshoe has had rain for the last seven days- August tends to be our monsoon season-and during those times when the water wasn’t falling from the sky, that sky was gray and overcast; no sunshine, which means that all my cactus and succulents, potted and in the...
Lobivia and Rebutia Do Their Thing
Over the course of the last three months I have enjoyed a variety of very different flowers, some which just happened to be all in the same pot. For example, look at these beauties on a lobivia I bought last year. In the same pot this little mammillaria plumosa...
Try Silky Thread Grass in Your Xeriscape Garden
You may not have a cactus garden, but you might be wanting to do more xeriscaping in your garden, and if so, you might consider adding some Mexican feather grass, also called silky thread grass. I started out with some of this grass in a bed between the house and the...
The Birdhouses
Back before Bill created the grain elevator, I came up with the bright idea that we could throw together some birdhouses for the cactus garden. When I would see them for sale, all cute and little and rustic and decorated, upon closer inspection I would notice they...
Grain Elevator in Miniature
My husband surprised me with this, his very own idea, his very own creation, a grain elevator for my cactus garden. He casually went about building it during the cold of the winter months when there was nothing to work on outside and when I wasn’t in and out of his...
Stapelia Lepida Seeds
One of my favorite plants is the stapelia lepida that I think I have shared with you before. But the flower is so intricate it is worth sharing again. Every year it blooms, and every year I take yet another picture of that amazing flower, this one blooming in ...
Cactus Sunburn, Too
I was so focused on telling you the perils of too much sun on succulents last week that I really didn’t talk much about the effects of too much sun on cactus in particular. They, too, can be damaged in heat like we are experiencing now. The sun may be more intense in...
Beware of Sunburned Plants in 100 Degree Weather
For the past week, and maybe more, we have endured 100+ degree weather, as I believe much of the whole United States has. I dodged the heat by staying inside much of the time. I should have paid more attention. And now that the damage is done, I have moved plants that...
Agave Lechuguilla
Hellen and I came home with a start of this agave a bunch of years ago when we visited the McNay Museum in San Antonio to enjoy a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit. I was just getting serious about my cactus collection and was anxious to add new specimens and at the time I...
Consider the Much-Maligned Prickly Pear
To many people, if you say cactus, they immediately frown, wince, envision prickly pear, and want no part of any cactus. Which is a shame, because the opuntia family gives us beautiful flowers, and with conscientious pruning can be kept from taking over your garden...
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