Another Look at Ariocarpus

by | Oct 30, 2015 | Cactus Are Cool

I have written about ariocarpus before, but it has been a while, so some of you may not be familiar with this plant.   Fall is their blooming season, as you can see here. Ariocarpus retusus is not a plant you will find at the big box stores, but it is worth...

Refreshing a Path in the Cactus Garden

by | Oct 24, 2015 | Cactus Are Cool

My cactus garden is over 20 years old and needs renovation from time to time. One path through the garden had become cluttered and hard to navigate, so the time had come to fix it. These pictures show the path in question. The flat rocks are supposed to mark the way,...

My New Stapeliad Turns Out to Be Controversial

by | Oct 17, 2015 | Cactus Are Cool

I have become a fan of stapeliads and bought one I don’t have the other day at the Living Desert in Spicewood. It was not identified, which is not uncommon because there are so many very similar varieties. As luck would have it, i was blessed with blooms right after I...

Clean Your Cactus With Your Hair Dryer

by | Oct 8, 2015 | Cactus Are Cool

  Fall brings football season; up here it also signals that it is time to bring my potted cactus and succulents inside for the winter. In my garden, if it is in a pot, it is because it is not cold-hardy. I have braved icy winds and impending snow storms and...

Try Autumn Joy Sedum for Fall Color

by | Oct 4, 2015 | Cactus Are Cool

    Try Autumn Joy Sedum for Fall Color     I have mentioned autumn joy for fall color before, but let’s take another, closer look at this reliable succulent. Autumn joy sedum is a plant in the crassulaceae family also known as stonecrop sedum and...

Praying Mantis Like Cactus, Too.

by | Sep 24, 2015 | Cactus Are Cool

I discovered this praying mantis on the euphorbia trigona the other day. Just to simplify a bit, mantises are from the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, and order Mantodea and I suspect most of us take them for granted as a native insect. Not so; they were introduced...