OCSS Fall Sale

It was good to see some of you out at the Portland Home & Garden Show where we participated (along with Northwest Cactus) in the Oregon Cactus & Succulent Society Fall Sale. Attendance was way down at the show this year (perhaps a reflection of the economy?) but it's always good to visit old friends and find new people interested in succulent plants.

An Oregon Coast break

As native Oregonians, it doesn't bother us that it may be foggy and rainy the whole time when we go to the coast for a break. We recently did just that, and sure enough...

Succulents, yes, but no cacti there. But that's why we take a break.

More Echinopsis hybrids

OK, I can't resist. Here's a group of Echinopsis hybrids in bloom today.

Haworthia updates

For those of you interested in haworthias, check out the new postings by David Martin on haworthia.com.. At the request of Bruce Bayer, David is posting "Haworthia - new field information since 2000 by M. Bruce Bayer". This is a great resource. Check it out.

Echinopsis hybrids

Ah yes, nothing like a little late summer color to wake up the senses.

Getting winterized

Sorry I've been absent for so long. It's been a very busy Summer, and Fall's not going to get any better! So, time to bite the bullet and get some comments out.

I just talked to a customer who was getting concerned about the cool nights and preparing for Winter... What? Now that's a novel concept: being prepared.

It's also worry time for us. Now that we have plants scattered all around outside, how do we get them all back in the greenhouses? And how are we going to afford the heat??? !

Ah yes, Fall. O well, we've got another month/month and a half before we really have to start worrying!

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!