Tiny cryptanthus terrariums. These were a failed product we were trying to make for holiday ’09. But they were too cheap, the glass too thin. The glass kept breaking, so I took the last one home. We did find a heavier duty glass sphere that we pot into, and more recently a spiny glass sphere. Yes!

I see Keith Knight has a cactus.

I wonder if he’ll keep it after the baby arrives.

We’re going to SF Gift Fair today. I hate gift fair, but when you carry some gift items, you need to carry new ones every year or the retail goes stale. So off to the moscone center we go.

It’s the last day of the fair, and reports are that it’s small this year.

Our case of Debra Lee Baldwin’s “Succulent Container Gardens” arrived. Truly a beautiful book. So many good ideas.

I don’t know where Hap finds these photos, but this one seems to be a study in genetics.

From KalaaLog

In this tutorial, you can have an in depth walk through of creating a digital painting of a cactus.

The final artwork would be as follows.

This is like those old Saturday morning painting shows on PBS, but there’s no video, it’s on the internet and there’s no paint involved. So it’s nothing like it; but who’s counting.

Lots more Aloe blooms from Germinatrix, at the Huntington.

So I see the Aloe ferox is in full bloom. In fact we have 3 giant 24″ box A. feroxes in bloom. Quite the sight.

And a closeup too, for those of you who like to stick your nose right into the flowers.

Jalapeno Cactus Cheese Dip

1 (8 ounce) container dairy sour cream
1/2 cup jalapeno or French onion sour cream dip
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded cheese
1/4 cup diced canned jalapenos, drain
2 tablespoons diced canned cactus
1-1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

A customer brought in this Hoya kerii from IKEA.

I had to tell him it was dead.

He walked out with a new, and much bigger, healthy Hoya kerii.

Our Bowiea volubilis parent is finally splitting and sending off pups, only 4 years after we sold the last crop. And our other parent plant by accident. That’s my story and don’t tell Hap otherwise, OK?

When I got in this morning, it was finally sunny out, so I took this picture to prove it. And then by the time I got around to posting it, it started raining again. Damn you rain gods!

So were now closed for the day. Just sayin’.

I see the next storm has started up right on schedule. Hail, thunder, lightning and wind. Time for cocoa.

Jacques Dutronc – Les cactus – 1967

If I did mention the heavy, record-breaking, unusually strong rains we’ve been getting, then I apologize.

Have a nice pretty flower from sunnier times.

Asclepias curassavica – Scarlet Milkweed

Its a downpour.

We will be bringing out our spring organic veggie starts by March at the latest.

I thought this vegetable video might hold you until then.

It’s Jason, checking out his Tintin collection.

It’s a beautiful cactus ring.

Well, OK it’s a cactus that you throw rings at.

Cactus Ring Toss

But I love it anyway.

Plants are the strangest people photographed a Crassula ovata in bloom at a nursery in Iowa.

I wonder why Iowa?

Anyway, they bloom all the time around here, but apparently not so much as a houseplant in the frigid midwest. I’m getting cold just thinking about it.

On the other hand, they do have gay marriage there, so they’re probably pretty good peoples.

Cactus Taqueria in Oakland finally has some decent cactus, but the echeverias are looking a bit etiolated.

And yes, my crispy chickens tacos were DELICIOUS! Thank you for asking.

I’ve been busy preparing all our year end documents, printing reports, etc, that I seem to have forgotten to blog. Well, let that be a lesson to you.

From a reader in Germany, near the Danish border, we have four really well presented succulents.

Thanks!

One of the Old Man cacti is sending an out of season bud.

Espotoa lanata

Joni Mitchell

It’s an awesome Cactus Margarita Glass, 12 oz. and it’s available for only $5.00! And they have a lot of them in stock too. Now that’s a deal. I wonder how much for shipping?