Echinopsis 'Buttercup'

I don't know about you, but I never tire of those Echinopsis hybrid flowers. This one is E. 'Buttercup'. Yes, the flowers don't last long, but they don't just flower once!

A Little Political Aside

I'm not anti bank. But the financial crisis is real, with "too big to fail" the message heard repeatedly from governments stepping in and spending billions to prop up failing financial markets. I believe a healthy distrust of institutions which are "to big to fail" is a good thing. Thomas Jefferson was even more radical:

"I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a larger scale."

Maybe it's time to rethink our whole financial structures in the light of the issues of global warming. It's already happening on the local level as more and more people make changes in their lifestyle. Isn't it time for this to percolate up to our national and international leaders?

OK. My next post will be about plants!

Absence makes the heart...

Sorry. I've been absent from this for a while. Just too busy. And this weekend I did 12 hours on Friday and 10 hours today at the Oregon Cactus and Succulent Society show and sale. No breaks; no chair. No energy left. One more 10 hour day left. Alleluia!

Echinocereus gentrii

I love these plants. This is Echinocereus gentrii. Wow!