Cactus Garden

No sense of adventure, I guess.As we began the trek into the mountains, my mind, as much to drive out the thoughts of my daughter's moving away as to satisfy my gardener's curiosity, began to think about what types of plants would thriveout here, and...

These plants are basically leafless shrubs and trees and make for unique landscape and potted specimens. This article will introduce the reader to just a few of the dozens of such weird plants.

Schlumbergeras are epiphytes in nature (grow on other plants or non-soil surfaces), from the high elevation jungles of Brazil. 10-10-10 is the best ratio to use.For plants that are not flowering as expected, be sure the soil is not too dry, or plants...

This article is aimed to show the reader the difference in a true Christmas cactus and other holiday cacti. The plant was an offshoot of her grandmother's which was over 40 years old! Wow, a plant older than me.

To prevent discoloration, cut a vitamin E gel capsule in half and squish the vitamin into the gel. To get the most benefit from your plant, harvest all of the gel from a leaf at one time, and then refrigerate it and use as needed.You can wrap whole leaves...

Allow the fruit to thaw.Press the fruit gently with a potato masher so that the juice flows into the bowl.Drink your prickly pear juice right away, or pour it into ice cube trays and refreeze the fruit.

Use rain water if you have a system of gathering it.Water the cactus until water runs out of the bottom of the pot, or until outdoor plants have been deeply watered. The problem is that cacti also quickly die if overwatered.Learn to water a cactus properly...

Enjoy the rest of the dragon fruit as a snack.Fill a shallow container with a planting medium made from equal parts seed-starting mix and sand. You won't need many seeds, because the germination rate is high.

Cuttings can vary greatly in size, from immature globes to meter-long stem pieces.Square off the base of the cutting and let it sit in a warm, dry place until it dries. This can take one to 14 days.Fill growing containers with a propagation mix of 1/2...

The following article is mostly a pictorial of some of the more impressive cactus flowers. Sometimes we forget (at least I do) that they also can be great flowering plants. Cactus are great plants, for both pot and landscape cultivation.

And now, after seeing so many comments and questions about 'cacti' that actually aren't really cacti on theand the cactus and succulent forum, I thought I'd write a short article about plants that look like cacti, but aren't.The ‘typical' cactus is...

And their hybrids with Echeveria are even better. In the Crassula family (Crassulaceae) there are a lot of plants that mimic other plants leading to endless confusion by gardeners, growers and even botanical gardens.Echeverias are one of the most popular...

This plant on the right in my yard is one of the fatter ones. Succulents (including cacti) are among the best of all the plants to collect and grow in pots and in the garden and are certainly among my favorite plants.As if there weren't enough awesome,...

In modern times, the dye is most often used as a natural source of color for food and cosmetics. A major industry was created and remains to this day.is a red dye that is derived from the bodies of cochineal insects, which feed on prickly pear plants.

Cactus come in all shapes and varieties though some do not look like typical cacti, or even like cacti at all. This article is an introduction to some of the more unusual-looking cacti that some might not at first identify as cacti.

Third photo is of a very tall, skinny pot I broke the bottom off of and stuffed into a planter box, and planted an Aeonium in- doing great after 3 years!Three photos of same wooden fountain turned into a community succulent container/pot.

The barrel cactus opens its stoma during the night to collect carbon dioxide from the environment and stores it as malic acid until photosynthesis begins in the morning. The root system of a barrel cactus is shallow, but large and net-like, enabling the...

Cacti reproduce sexually through flower and seed production, or asexually by the fragmentation and rooting of stems.Cactus seeds are often distributed by birds, which are attracted to the fruit.

The Agave attenuata is a relatively rare plant from the mountains of central Mexico, although it is becoming very popular with gardeners in the U.S., especially those in the southern states.

Many cacti are ornamental for a variety of reasons: their spines, their overall shape and size, or their amazing flowers. Just be careful if it gets cold where you are (below freezing) and take measures to protect your plants; freeze damage never completely...

Dragon fruit plants cannot tolerate overly wet soil.Stop watering in early spring before the cacti flower. Unlike desert cacti, the pitaya cactus requires regular watering for healthiest growth and best fruit production.

The best way to keep your cactus from turning brown is to ensure that its environment is one that's conducive to growing a healthy plant. Plants with root rot can be hard to save because the rot starts inside the cactus and works its way out, so symptoms...

Make sure that you actually rub the fungus off the cactus when you are applying the rubbing alcohol.Treat isolated infections with cooking vinegar. This will kill the fungus and cause the leaf to drop off naturally so that you do not expose the interior...

Time to take it apart and start over... I seriously doubt a nursery cares a whole lot if some plants die; they just get replaced.Girlfriend's 'blue Echeveria' pot looked great until I decided it needed a bit more sun.

Probably the very best month of the entire year for seeing the flowers of succulents is February. This should at least help you get some idea of what one might expect to see flowering in the succulent world this month, a time of year when much of the...

Continue to feed and water regularly until August. Indoor cacti may receive too little sun, too much warmth and too much water to allow the plant to achieve this dormant state.Plant the cacti in a medium-size planting pot to allow for several years of...

Dig deep down before applying weight to the spade to lift up the roots, as the roots can be growing deep in the soil. This means that removing a cactus involves different steps depending on the overall size and growth of the cactus in question.