I would appreciate both the Carnegia and Opuntia seeds. No cactus seeds for trade, though it looks like I may have multiple types of pole bean seeds available! O course I am very happy to send postage. Kenneth Quinn, 1209 Central Avenue, Gadsden, AL 35904. E-mail at mosasaur47@msn.com

I have to agree with GreenThumb and Twiggy - that place on the right is very bothersome and I recommend depotting and a leaner soil mixture at once.

Since posting the question, I have learned of a Euphorbia near St. Catherine's Monastery and named after it. I've never seen it for sale.

In 1982 I was working on my geology MS thesis, which involved the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. At that time I was not particularly interested in succulents; certainly, I did not see any in the almost totally barren mountainous area I was in. I only remember a plant with petunia - like blooms...

Why buy a mature plant? Easy answer.... I am old and in bad health! But just to hedge my bets, I am also growing from seed, which is also enjoyable.

I have an extremely high opinion of Miles and his plants myself!

In an old issue of the CSSA Journal (back in the 60s, I think) Merritt Dunlap wrote of his good experiences using milled sphagnum as a seed staring medium. He included photos showing superior growth of seedlings in this medium vs. ones in soil. Has anyone tried this?

I think The Senecio diagnosis is the correct one.

Wow, I had forgotten I had posted the question! It prompted quite a discussion, I see. The consensus seems to be that ones growing on limestone in nature do not need any special soil in cultivations. I had not had any particular species in mind at the moment but had noticed quite a few listed in des...

A three way tie for me, because I have seen all three in bloom in habitat. All three are Echinocereus - E. reichenbachii in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma, E. coccineus and E. viridiflorus in northern New Mexico. The last two were within a few feet of each other. Right now I am growing viridiflor...

Aiko, Alplains may have posted an update but the 2014 list is apparently not available yet - at least as of this afternoon - or so the website indicated.

A volunteer Euphorbia millii seedling in a pot of Christmas Cactus.

I have been reading up on som species of cacti that I want to grow, and noted that they grow on limestone. What adjustments should I make to the soil for these plants?

The cold is coming all the way to northern Alabama. Tonight we may have some freezing rain and snow accumulation. Tomorrow night, the low will be 20. Compare that to last winter, when the lowest temperature the whole winter was 18! I am testing several species of cactus to see which will tolerate ou...