Succulent Travels 2010 - part 5

A couple of quick photos from C&J: the first of the hillside with the rows of cold-frames.

The second a close-up of what I call the "wall of cactus" - - hey, another possible jigsaw puzzle.

Just a note to say I might not get around to posting anything tomorrow, as it's our anniversary - our 41st - not that we're doing much. We may go out for a Chinese dinner - and try no to do any nursery business. We were going to go to the coast for a couple of nights, but the beach motel we go to didn't have two nights in a row available.

On Friday, we'll be hanging a few of Lynn-Marie's art works in the Starbucks in St. Johns, a nearby North Portland neighborhood where I grew up (not in the Starbucks, but in St. Johns. I think I pre-date Starbucks by a few years.)

Enjoy your plants!

Succulent Travels 2010 - part 3

This is the front entrance to Cactus Mart, north of Palm Springs in California. We visited here early in our travels.

And this is the back section.

And along the road to San Diego along Interstate 8 was this Dudleya along the side of the freeway.

If you look closely, you'll note the rain drops on the leaves. Just after this it snowed heavily.

Enjoy your plants!

Succulent Travels 2010 - part 2

At another wholesale nursery, this time in Vista, California, I took this photo. I think this might fulfill our Mammillaria cravings!

These are at C & J Nursery, a very high quality succulent nursery. And the following image is from our own greenhouse: Echinocereus gentryi:

 Enjoy your plants!

3500 miles in 8 days

We're back from our road trip for new nursery stock. And, you know, when you're on that last leg, driving up that long stretch of I-5 freeway through the Sacramento valley, some questions/observations just pop into your head. Like, why is it that the California highway department can't simply say "road repair ahead" instead of "roadway rehabilitation" ahead?!? And why do they have to keep reminding us, over and over again, to "Stay on Pavement"? It would seem to me that most people would prefer to stay on the pavement when driving on a freeway at 65 mph or higher. Or, is it a common occurrence for California drivers to drive off onto the grass at that speed?

Or maybe these seem like profound questions only after driving 3500 miles and visiting 12 or more cactus nurseries in 8 days.

At any rate...we're back!