Sunday, April 29. 2007Bloom Crown![]() Mammillaria Democrats-get-a-Spine Quote of the Week"But when he signs that veto early next week, he will sign it in blood."
Max Cleland on the President, as seen on Wolf Blitzer via Atrios. Saturday, April 28. 2007Alabama SucculentsFrom the Decatur Daily comes this heartwarming story of cactus and succulents.
Saundra Parks... makes floral handbags... (that) may bloom with hydrangeas or orchids, cactus or roses, or whatever... Of those she’s done, “My favorite is the ‘organic’ one, using succulents. It’s all green, very clean, simple.” Parks also decorates... shoes... with flowers. That was quite nice, now wasn't it. Admit it, your smiling, I see your lips curling up there. Don't be shy. Sometimes I have no idea what I'm talking about. I write the blog entry first, and then I go find an article about cactus or succulents and I place a quote from the article right in the middle of whatever I'm gibbering about today, regardless of whether or not it makes any sense. How did I do today? Miscellaneous Words and Pictures TooIt's going to be a hot day today here in Berkeley. We're missing my cousin's bat mitzvah in Boston so we can keep the store open on a hot hot Saturday in April. Melissa Blotner is probably at the temple right now in Newton, getting ready. The fog has already burned off here at the Bay and the heat is rising. Lebasi has moved to New York and we missed her party. She should be arriving there today or tomorrow. So here's a picture of a snowflake from National Geographic. ![]() Cool. Photograph by and copyright Patricia Rasmussen, via Voyageur Press Friday, April 27. 2007TillandsiaFrom the Smithsonian Catalog of Botanical Illustrations.
![]() © Smithsonian Institution Plate Number: 1364 Publication: The Bromeliads, Plate 4 Client: Smith, L.B. - Size: 18.7x26 Remarks: On loan: M. Mee :Return to the Amazon (1/16/96 - 8/ 20/99 ). Tillandsia stricta (Bromeliaceae) - Collection: , Brazil, Sao Paulo; flowering plant. Artist: Mee, Margaret - pre 1965 - gouache Friday Whippet BloggingIt's friday, and Benjamin is hiding completely under the blanket, so I went on google to come up with an "interesting" (bizarre) search for whippets: "whippet soap" was the search term I used, and BAM there it was. Whippet soap for sale.
Victorian Greyhound Whippet Soap Sampler Pack, to be exact, on eBay. Sale ends 5/22/07. As I often say, "Who knew?" Not you, I bet, not you. Thursday, April 26. 2007Iowa CactusIn Iowa, a tomato gardener's friend kills a cactus. But they don't say how.
The Inadvertent Gardener: My Iowa City friend said she thought my gardening skills really aren’t that bad. “Now me, on the other hand…my grandfather was a florist, and I kill mint,” she said. “I have you both beat,” the disc jockey said. “I killed a cactus.” The two of us stared at him for a second. I contemplated what it would take to actually kill a cactus. Aren’t they supposed to rock on in brutal conditions? And in the comments is a drive-by cactus shooting story. Oh well. Here's an update of sorts. Wednesday, April 25. 2007BotanyThe Smithsonian's Botany Department has an incredible collection of cactus drawings from the early part of the last century.
© Smithsonian Institution Plate Number: 226 Publication: The Cactaceae Vol. 2 Pl 2, Fig 2 and 3 Client: Britton, N.L. and Rose, J.N. - Size: 11x14 Cereus peruvianus (Cactaceae) - Collection: 03 Aug 1912; spiny top, flower. Artist: Eaton, M.E. - 03 Aug 1912 - watercolor Tuesday, April 24. 2007Australia's ChampionsIn Australia, there are National Cactus Champs, Suburban Division.
Will has constructed a Japanese-inspired bamboo frame with its cross-bar not quite high enough from the path for most Western adults to enter without knocking their heads – just one indication of the eccentricity you will encounter while strolling the pathways of this leafy garden.... Whatever. Being careful not to bang their skulls as they pass through this portal, they will admire a tall conifer before the first Japanese-themed garden, which features a waterfall lantern Will sculptured out of hebel (an aerated type of concrete) by a pond with water lilies, aloe vera, other succulents and pampas grass.... But what about that headline about being champions. Surely, that's just hyperbole. Nope. Will and Rayleen won the Hills District and Bunya Garden Competition grand champion trophy last year and will welcome visitors to Avoca, 47 Bel-Air Crt, Ferny Hills, for the first time next Saturday and Sunday for Australia's Open Garden Scheme. Those wacky Australians.Sunday, April 22. 2007A New PollOK, look, there are over 100 people a day on Cactusblog, and over 500 distinct visitors per week, but only about 10 of you answered my precious blog polls. These were critical questions that I felt this community of cactus and succulent and whippet lovers would like to have asked of them, and thus would like to answer. I guess I was wrong. There were not a lot of votes. But I'm not bitter. So here you go a poll about polling. Here's your chance to redeem yourself, to tell me what went wrong, so we can do better next time.
Friday, April 20. 2007Friday Whippet Blogging![]() Perennial BloomIt's not a succulent; it's a drought-tolerant perennial, the infamous "Purple Rock Rose" of the mediterranean coast.
It's fragrant and evergreen. ![]() Cistus x. purpureus |