Get Yourself Some Rain Barrels

 We added two new rain barrels for collecting rain water-yes it does occasionally rain here-and snow, which is supposed to hit tonight, so I thought I’d share my barrel system with you in case you’d like to try it yourself.    Rain can be collected in...

Watch Out for Mealy Bugs

 By mid to late winter the mealy bugs have decided to descend in full force on plants in the greenhouse. Lack of air circulation seems to be the prime factor with these pesky little bugs because this is when I always have the most trouble with them, when they...

Keeping Your Cactus Warm

 When I started this, we had had below freezing weather for too many days in a row. I lost count, but suffice it say I have worn my long underwear under my jeans to stay warm in and out of the house. I probably don’t need them in the house, but it saves having to...

The Quintessential Fat Plant

 The most impressive fat plants in my collection would be my pachypodium lamerei and pachypodium geayi, commonly known as Madagascar palms, since that is where these two pachypodiums occur in nature.  P. lamerei has a wide, graceful leaf. This plant had...

More Fat Plants

 As promised, the other fat plant, pachypodium baronii, that was due to bloom, did, and this is what it looks like. Similar to the pachypodium lealii saundersii, but a whiter flower and some difference in the spines. And you can see the thick body that qualifies...