John's 2009 Topic

hob · Post by **hob** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 7:22 pm

daiv wrote:Another great example of why everyone should be part of their local club if there is one.

my local club is too far away to go to

but i do take time off work to attend and enter their annual show

peter · Post by **peter** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 7:26 pm

Nice haul! Congrats John!

Post by **daiv** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:34 pm

I hear you Hob. We don't even have one in MN and if we did, I'm sure it would be 2 hrs anyway in the cities anyway.

We're members of the Minnesota Herp society and don't make meetings that often just because it is such a long drive. Fuel prices are down now, but so are incomes - so the urge to stay home is strong!

John C · Post by **John C** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 12:22 am

I have been working on the garden lately. My garden wasn't raised all that much and did not drain and dry fast enough. So....

...Yesterday I took all of the gravel off the top, and then I went to a stone, gravel, sand, dirt, mulch, etc place. They sell their stones and such to a lot of landscaping companies around here. They have rows and rows of stones and other things. I actually got the garden boarder there. I found some Crushed Pink Granite! Yay!!! So I have added much more ingredients to my mix that make it much better at draining and it dries VERY quickly

While my previous mix was still very wet my new mix was half-way dry!

In just a few hours too!!!

Any how. Let's get to the pics.

Last year...

Now!

It's hard to tell from the pics but it was raised a very large amount. Quite a few inches.

The Opuntia went dormant over the winter and is now growing like crazy!

The 2 pads in my garden have a total of 4 new pads growing.

The yuccas I got are starting to grow and, they are starting to root too!

Not sure how this one is doing though. Hasn't done much of anything.

The Texas Sage started dying after we moved it from one of our backyard gardens to this one, but it is starting to come back!

Now time to get more plants for it!

Enjoy!

John C · Post by **John C** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:03 am

I guess this is technically my first flower of the year.

Very small Mamm. Karwinskiana flower. I didn't really expect this to flower.

It is still on my windowsill!

I've been meaning to repot it and bring it outside but it just flowered on the windowsill!!!

I think it has gone crazy!

This old man's cactus was chewed up by my cat a while back, I pushed it off to the corner and forgot about it, It looked like it was dying. Well I just happened to notice it was growing a pup!

And finally a Rhipsalis that I won in the raffle at the FWCSS meeting a month ago.

Post by **daiv** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:00 am

John, the outdoor bed looks great! I like your choice of natural materials and the irregular shape. I'm sure your cacti will be happy in there!

Moonbeam · Post by **Moonbeam** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:37 am

Good job John C. That's the way we SHOULD do it one day. Our plan is to start with a small sized garden and greenhouse...then expand as it gets filled up.

floyd · Post by **floyd** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:37 am

John that is nice looking garden and plants seem to like it too. Here it is still to cold for the cacti to "wake up" and I am anxious to see how they have made it through winter.

crake · Post by **crake** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:52 am

Hi John! You posted on my little thready thing so i figure the least i could do is grace yours!

OUT-flippin-STANDING BIRD, the cacti are ok too...

What was the cactus with the art-deco looking protrusions? It's one of the last of the second set of pics, right above "...and a succulent too"? Whatever it is, it does look like some unknown genius sculptors work. You know, the person who dies dirt poor then the masses discover the art some decades later... Those types...

Nice cacti in general, wish i had the space for something like that...

John C · Post by **John C** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:54 pm

crake wrote:Hi John! You posted on my little thready thing so i figure the least i could do is grace yours!

OUT-flippin-STANDING BIRD, the cacti are ok too...

What was the cactus with the art-deco looking protrusions? It's one of the last of the second set of pics, right above "...and a succulent too"? Whatever it is, it does look like some unknown genius sculptors work. You know, the person who dies dirt poor then the masses discover the art some decades later... Those types...

Nice cacti in general, wish i had the space for something like that...

Thank you!

This one?

It is a Tephrocactus Articulatus

John C · Post by **John C** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:06 pm

Moonbeam wrote:Good job John C. That's the way we SHOULD do it one day. Our plan is to start with a small sized garden and greenhouse...then expand as it gets filled up.

Talking about a small greenhouse.

I have created this mini greenhouse like thing temporarily(to protect my plants from the rain and such). It is temporary until I build a frame and make a better mini greenhouse thing. It is also great for acclimating my plants to the sun again.

I know, It looks cheap, but hey, it works for now!

Don't lean against this part!

A look inside.

Saguaro123 · Post by **Saguaro123** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:53 pm

That's a great idea John.

Makes me think that I should build something like that until I actually get a greenhouse.

TimN · Post by **TimN** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:34 pm

Those beds look awesome! Nice job!

John C · Post by **John C** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:27 am

Thanks everyone!

Lewis_cacti · Post by **Lewis_cacti** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:15 am

i just browsed through this thread.
Looks good John.

I think that your 'crazy' Mamm with the tiny flower is actually M.columbiana.

p.s. you need more astros and a loph or two