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!

Succulents as a Simple Accent

Maureen Gilmer, writing in the Lancaster New Leader says

The coolest new trend that has evolved out of the mid-mod movement is succulents. They bear distinct forms that are bold and graphic, standing out against the walls and surfaces of these simplified homes. Even in colder climates, succulents are a great choice, because the plants can come indoors for the winter, thriving in the bright light of these open homes.

She then adds:

Potted-succulent artists have evolved distinctly different approaches well-suited to modern homes.

The first style is modern minimal and quite masculine in look and feel. Forms are rectilinear, using square or rectangular pots to create bold geometry...

The second approach is far more free-form and really sexy. It depends on the plants themselves to create a bold form. Upright cacti and other succulents can produce some truly spectacular poles, rosettes or balls that are geometric in their own right. The trick is to combine them with an interesting pot, then to select a stone or glass mulch to create a beautiful surface within the pot.

A third style has its roots in Japan, where many elements of modern design were born. Some succulents — which have fleshy leaves to retain water, plus a thickened stem called a "caudex" — are outstanding bonsai specimens. When planted in bonsai-style pots, they make a superior focal point for any room, whether indoors or out. Creative shaping of the plants, plus the use of naturalistic stones, makes them fabulous for a mid-mod apartment patio or in a winter kitchen.

Aren't you glad you've been discovered?
Seriously, it's a nice article. Check it out.

Our new helper

Introducing our new helper around the nursery: Kiani. Kiani's the mother of Osita, our other Belgian Tervuren. She 's fitting in quite nicely and has learned to dodge around the cacti very quickly.

"Michelin Man"? succulent

Over at Scientific Blogging", and at number of other sites, they've announced a list of the ten best new species of 2007. One of the items is a new succulent species, Tecticornia bibenda. It's been dubbed the "Michelin Man", but I think the people who gave it this name had probably been celebrating a bit too much. But it is a neat succulent from Western Australia. It's conservation status is P-3 - "taxa which are known from several populations, at least some of which are not believed to be under immediate threat (i.e. not currently endangered). Such taxa are under consideration for declaration as ‘rare flora’, but are in need of further survey."

The genus consists of quite a few species of salt-tolerant shrubby plants from Australia.

New nursery helper

Ladybug and Osita now have a new nursery helper, Osita's mama, Kiani. We've only had her a little over a week, but she's certainly fitting in. I'll have a mother/daughter picture up as soon as I get them to stay still long enough...