The market is so shot, they’re featuring cactus gardens to try to sell a house. <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1854&amp;entry_id=1672" title="http://www.coldwellbanker.com/servlet/PropertyListing?action=detail&ComColdwellbankerDataProperty_id=13036366&page=property" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.coldwellbanker.com/servlet/PropertyListing?action=detail&ComColdwellbankerDataProperty_id=13036366&page=property’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Coldwell Banker</a> has this listing in Ojai for $6.25m.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A 1908 Myron Hunt Design. This is the historical winter home of Edward Drummond Libbey, the visionary philanthropist who transformed Ojai from a ramshackle western settlement into the modern architectural mecca it is today. A prosperous glass manufacturer, Libbey wintered in Ojai beginning in 1908. He is responsible for the original Wallace Neff clubhouse and the George C. Thomas, Jr. golf course of the Ojai Valley Inn and Country Club…. Myron Hunt, the renowned Los Angeles architect responsible for the Huntington Library, the Ambassador Hotel and many buildings at Caltech, Occidental College and Pomona College, designed the Libbey Estate in 1908…. Located on Foothill Road near downtown Ojai, the estate features three separate houses, an office, a recently built 60 foot tile pool <span style="font-weight: bold;">and extensive cactus and succulent gardens.</span> The property totals 3.7 acres</span><br /></div><br />Nice. A little pricey, but you’d get a lot for your money.<br /><br />

The <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1845&amp;entry_id=1663" title="http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=125845" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=125845′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Chicago Daily Herald</a> (never heard of them) says you should plant some pretty succulents together in a mixed pot, and then you’re an artist! Woohoo!<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Plants as Art</span><br /><img width="200" hspace="5" border="2" align="left" src="/blog/uploads/misc/42399.jpg" /> Rita Randolph could probably make a beautiful container with dandelions….<br />
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Gardeners striving to be container artists can learn a lot from her.<br />
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Her multitude of planters range from those featuring mother-in-law’s tongue to edibles, succulents, grasses, vines and monochromatic selections….<br />
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If you never thought of mother-in-law’s tongue as a beauty, you haven’t followed Randolph’s advice:<br />
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&quot;It needs friends. It’s always stuck in the back of a container.&quot;</span><br /></div><br />You know, journalism is very different than blogging. They write these articles, and we leach off them for our blogs. They write about bizarre things like how using sansevieria makes a planter into art, and I post them for you. I guess what I’m trying to say is that they’re sincere and I’m not.<br /><br /><br />

The <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1843&amp;entry_id=1658" title="http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/31/cactus-plants-can-thrive-in-office-setting/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/31/cactus-plants-can-thrive-in-office-setting/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Ventura County Star</a> says you can grow your cactus indoors, even though in Ventura County (CA) they would grow quite nicely outdoors. Except during the mudslides.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><img width="400" hspace="5" border="2" src="/blog/uploads/misc/20080130-172332-pic-221376343_t600.jpg" /><br />Many small cacti produce enormous blossoms indoors. The Mamilaria clan, center, blooms in wreathlike garlands of tiny flowers. Gymnocalycium, right, often thrive in shade in the wild, but take on vivid coloring in the sun.</span><br /></div><br />I don’t really understand that caption to that photo, but then I’m not a journalist. That’s an Echinocereus bloom we’re looking at.<br /><br />

A little bit of extra super bowl news from the <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1836&amp;entry_id=1657" title="http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1201930505121520.xml&coll=1" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1201930505121520.xml&coll=1′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">New Jersey Star- Ledger</a>.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> CACTUS FACTUS<br />
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The Fishhook Barrel Cactus can help (it’s often called the Compass Cactus because large plants tend to lean toward the southwest) and hurt (drinking the pulp water from the cactus can lead to diarrhea). The cactus usually grows 2 to 4 feet and often has an orange-ish flower when it blooms in late summer. </span><br /></div><br />OK. It’s strange what qualifies as sports news when the super bowl gets played in the desert.<br /><br />

The cactus came out for the horticulture trade fair in <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1830&amp;entry_id=1654" title="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Mother-in-laws_Chair_Ouch/articleshow/2736295.cms" onmouseover="window.status=’http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Mother-in-laws_Chair_Ouch/articleshow/2736295.cms’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Hyderabad, India</a>.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><img width="200" hspace="5" height="256" border="2" src="/blog/uploads/misc/photo.cms.jpg" /> <br /> Taking the cake is a 50-kg prickly globe of Chinocactus called ‘Mother-in-law’s Chair’… on display at a stall set up by Buddha Purnima Project Authority…<br />
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Though Deccan plateau is not a natural habitat, the desert plants can survive in any environment.</span><br /></div><br />I think it’s a good thing that large barrel cacti are available in India, although I don’t know why.<br /><br />

Someone from Arizona moved to Arkansas and misses the cactus.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">We now have the gentle waves of DeGray Lake practically lapping at our back deck, not to mention more than two acres of grass to mow. In Tucson, we were greeted each morning by the outstretched arms of a giant saguaro cactus outside our front window.</span><br /></div><br />This is big news in the <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1825&amp;entry_id=1646" title="http://www.siftingsherald.com/articles/2008/01/25/news/news2.txt" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.siftingsherald.com/articles/2008/01/25/news/news2.txt’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Arkadelphia (AR) Siftings Herald</a>. And why shouldn’t it be? We have a big competition here in the US for residents. Every state is battling with every other state for new and better people to come to their state and fill out the ranks. And here we have a classic example of AR beating out AZ for one key person, notwithstanding all the fantastic cacti one can find in AZ. It’s a mystery worth pondering. <br /><br />I wonder what the people in AK think? Well, I can tell you that they regretted losing 2 of us to CA 12 years ago. It made all the local papers, and generated so many letters to the editor they had to set aside a page just to print the whole controversy. True story.<br /> <br />

They grow them old in Michigan. The <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1823&amp;entry_id=1645" title="http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/500901.html?nav=5001" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/500901.html?nav=5001′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Escanaba (huh? What’s an escanaba?) Daily Press</a> is all over the story of the 100 year old cactus in Hermansville. I’m guessing these small towns are in the UP, maybe even near the <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1824&amp;entry_id=1645" title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/93114883@N00/122200480/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.flickr.com/photos/93114883@N00/122200480/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Mackinac Bridge</a>.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><img width="250" hspace="5" height="188" border="0" src="https://cactusjungle.com/blog/uploads/misc/500901_1.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For more than 100 years, a Christmas cactus has been blooming in Hermansville. In 1925, Pauline Meyers gave the post office a cactus that had been gracing her home for years. Mrs. Lottie Bultman, sister to William Anderson, who founded the William Anderson Sports and Recreation club in Hermansville, was postmaster at the time the cactus was given. Another cactus was later presented to the post office by Sven Anderson; it, too, bloomed over the Christmas season and is 57 years old.<br />
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Lottie Bultman took care of the cactus until 1929. Since then each postmaster has watered and nurtured the cactus. Debra LaFave, current postmaster, now attends to it. Many cuttings have been given out to local residents and the cactus blooms are eagerly awaited each Christmas by local patrons at the Post Office.</span><br /></div><br />Well, nice going and congratulations to the Meyers/Bultman/Anderson families and the Postmaster too.<br /><br />

Peter Eisenman claims his U of Phoenix Stadium design was inspired by a barrel cactus. The locals don’t agree. From the <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1821&amp;entry_id=1643" title="http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/107404" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/107404′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">East Valley Tribune</a>.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The stadium looks like a vegetable steamer. We’re not sure why. We weren’t at that meeting. At the time, the Cardinals’ architect said the design was an homage to the barrel cactus. (Which makes sense, because many Cardinals games FEEL like you’re sticking your head in a barrel cactus.) But he was not local, and may have been frightened by kitchen appliances at an early age. Just take Loop 101 west, and pretend you’re a giant broccoli floret looking for a sauna.</span><br /></div><br />Hah!<br /><br />

Golf course designer <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1819&amp;entry_id=1641" title="http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=7790107&nav=HMO6" onmouseover="window.status=’http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=7790107&nav=HMO6′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Jack Nicklaus</a> likes the cactus.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">&quot;I spend a lot of time at all of my courses,&quot; Nicklaus told News 4….<br />
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&quot;The… Saguaro cactus population is fantastic here,&quot; (Nicklaus said,) &quot;along with the other vegetation.&quot;</span><br /></div><br />I wonder what else he likes? Does he like margaritas? Does he read People to keep up on the latest Britney news? Does he have a shoe fetish, with closets filled with hundreds of spiked golf shoes of all colors?<br /><br />

Nopales comes to the Gulf Coast of Florida, apparently, and this seems to be big news in <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1818&amp;entry_id=1640" title="http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsstory.cfm?pubdate=013008&story=tp2np3.htm&folder=NewsArchive2" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsstory.cfm?pubdate=013008&story=tp2np3.htm&folder=NewsArchive2′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Charlotte Harbor, Florida</a>.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">North Port has a new produce store….<br />
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&quot;Our prices are very reasonable as oppose to some of the local grocery stores,&quot; Clarke said….<br />
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&quot;We sell these and bananas the most,&quot; Clarke said….<br />
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Clarke said the oddest item they sell is <span style="font-weight: bold;">fresh cactus</span> which is frequently used in Latin foods.</span><br /></div><br />Well, it’s all for the good, I’m sure. You never know what a local newspaper is going to write about. For instance, I once read an article that was all about how a termite infestation in a 150 year old house on Cape Cod was going to force them to close down the museum part of the house for a couple weeks while they fumigated.<br /><br />

From the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert, comes the heartening sight of the ocotillo in bloom. The <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1811&amp;entry_id=1630" title="http://www.currentargus.com/ci_8059570" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.currentargus.com/ci_8059570′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Calrsbad Current-Argus</a> has the story.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ocotillo produces clusters of bright red flowers in the spring, usually from March to June and even later depending on rainfall….<br />
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Hummingbirds, attracted to its nectar, pollinate Ocotillo. The birds feed on the flowers during their travels north from Old Mexico to the mountains of the Western US. </span><br /></div><br />Now what would that have to do with the heart-rending way the Giants’ crucial 32 yard catch was made with the ball held against a helmet against all odds to crush my hopes for a perfect football season? Well, the Red Sox won the World Series so all is still well in the world.<br /><br />

They have cactus classes in Oklahoma, it turns out, so they can’t be all bad. The <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1806&amp;entry_id=1618" title="http://newsok.com/article/3196235" onmouseover="window.status=’http://newsok.com/article/3196235′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Oklahoman</a> has a story.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><img width="180" hspace="5" height="224" border="2" src="/blog/uploads/misc/cactuswoman1.jpg" /><br /></div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Joyce Hochtritt of Midwest City, a member of the Central Oklahoma Cactus and Succulent Society, tends to cactus plants. She began collecting cactuses when she was 8. By Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman</span><br /></div><br />

The <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1805&amp;entry_id=1617" title="http://newsok.com/article/3196242/1201138138" onmouseover="window.status=’http://newsok.com/article/3196242/1201138138′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Oklahoman</a> recommends a few cactus in your tabletop garden in the Sooner State. (That is Oklahoma, isn’t it? I think so, but who can know for sure. Maybe it’s the Buckeye State or the Wheelbarrow State.)<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Close your eyes and visualize an early spring, a trickling stream and fragrant, fresh blooms….<br />
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Create a cheerful early spring garden in your kitchen window with flowering bulbs…. Balance a paper-white narcissus, hyacinth or crocus on the rim of a glass or narrow vase with just the roots in water…. A few blossoms on a single stem of freesia will add fragrance and color indoors and should last for weeks in a cool setting.<br />
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The thought of growing a delicate orchid could cause a new gardener to opt for a cactus garden.</span><br /></div><br />Oh. So they’re not telling you to add cactus to your tabletop garden after all, those crazy Oklahomans.<br /><br />

New York theater audiences are feasting on cactus and goat curry, according to <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1796&amp;entry_id=1602" title="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aCtBcClsLWjg&refer=muse" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aCtBcClsLWjg&refer=muse’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">bloomberg.com theater</a> critics and food afficionados. Delicious!<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Brick Lane Curry House</span> has a London Underground sign for a logo, a tribute to its namesake street in the British capital, home to many curry restaurants….<br />
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Plump shrimp were cooked in a spicy coconut curry; goat was simmered in sweetish, creamy gravy tinged with saffron. <br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">La Palapa</span>, named for the thatch-roofed huts that dot the coast of Mexico, is a festive space decorated with pottery, old maps of Mexico and a sunburst made from bronze stalks of corn….<br />
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Catfish is baked in a corn husk with <span style="font-weight: bold;">chunks of cactus</span>, jalapenos and pungent epazote leaves ($8.95).</span><br /></div><br />Oh, so the cactus and the goat curry aren’t in the same dish…. Now I get it. It’s the cactus and catfish together. I didn’t think the goat cactus combo sounded so good.<br /><br />

More info from the Sweet Cactus Farms website, to fill in details from this morning’s post.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> SCF Agave Nectar is at least 25% sweeter than sugar so you can use less and save on calories.<br />
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The Glycemic Index has been measured at 10-11. This GI, certified by the University of Sydney, is based on Agave Nectar produced from 100% Blue Weber Tequilana. Agave Nectar produced from a blend of Agave plants or &quot;Wild Agave&quot; has a higher Glycemic Index. Do not be confused! </span><br /></div><br />Turns out it’s not just related to Tequila, it comes from the Tequila Agave. Good to know. Maybe we should carry it at the nursery.<br /><br /><br />

They don’t plant cactus in the ground too much in Indiana, instead they bring them inside into their offices, where they are forced to survive under fluorescent lights. Oy. The Evansville <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1794&amp;entry_id=1600" title="http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jan/15/get-cactus-plant-your-office/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jan/15/get-cactus-plant-your-office/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Courier Press</a> reprints an article from DIY:<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">In fact, the cactus should become the botanical mascot of American business because it reflects the daily challenges of a free-enterprise system.<br />
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A living cactus on every office desk is a great way to acknowledge the duality of our work. On one hand, we are forced to arm ourselves for competition and negotiation. On the other, we have the opportunity to use our company to better the world. Ferocious yet elegant, rugged but exquisite, this universal balance is as important in the workaday world as it is in the evolution of a cactus.</span><br /></div><br />Oy. I have a headache now.<br /><br />

<a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1791&amp;entry_id=1598" title="http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/health/nutrition/view.bg?articleid=1066762&srvc=rss" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/health/nutrition/view.bg?articleid=1066762&srvc=rss’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Australians</a> now have <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1792&amp;entry_id=1598" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_Index" onmouseover="window.status=’http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_Index’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Glycemic Index</a> information on their food labels, and it turns out that only one product in the US has that info, and it’s a cactus product.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">To help guide consumers, she has teamed with Diabetes Australia and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to form a nonprofit group that gives foods GI numbers and labels. Under this program, foods are tested three times and given a score.<br />
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In the United States, it’s a different story: Only one food – a naturally occurring sugar substitute extracted from cactus and marketed by Sweet Cactus Farms – has undergone testing to earn the GI symbol. And while a growing number of weight-loss books and cookbooks pay homage to the GI approach, neither the American Diabetes Association nor many U.S. nutrition experts have embraced its widespread use.</span><br /></div><br />No info on what the score is. Going to the <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1793&amp;entry_id=1598" title="http://www.sweetcactusfarms.com/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.sweetcactusfarms.com/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Sweet Cactus Farms</a> website, we find that the cactus extract is actually Agave Nectar, which is in the Lilly family and not the Cactus family at all. That also means it is related to Tequila, which must be good for you too, right?<br /><br />

A new book out <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1789&amp;entry_id=1597" title="http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01/11/homes/18_53_391_10_08.txt" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01/11/homes/18_53_391_10_08.txt’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">about bonsai succulents</a> called <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1790&amp;entry_id=1597" title="http://www.amazon.com/Pachyforms-Philippe-Vosjoli-Rudy-Lime/dp/0974297135" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.amazon.com/Pachyforms-Philippe-Vosjoli-Rudy-Lime/dp/0974297135′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">&quot;Bonsai Succulents&quot;</a> by Philippe de Vosjoli and Rudy Lime, features pachyforms whose roots have been cut back.<br /><br style="font-style: italic;" /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><img width="432" hspace="5" border="0" src="/blog/uploads/misc/18_53_391_10_08.jpg" /><br style="font-style: italic;" /><span style="font-style: italic;">Rudy Lime and Philippe De Vosjoli at Lime’s backyard Wednesday with a succulent turned into a bonsai.<br />
BILL WECHTER Staff Photographer </span><br /></div><br />We like to let our bonsai succulents go wild, which, technically, would mean they’re not bonsai’s. Oh well, I’m just saying.<br /><br />

<a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1788&amp;entry_id=1596" title="http://www.dominomag.com/daily/blogs/germinatrix/2008/01/do-you-like-old.html" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.dominomag.com/daily/blogs/germinatrix/2008/01/do-you-like-old.html’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Domino Magazine </a>has a gardening column whose writer says she has been sceptical of cactus. Until now….<br /><br style="font-style: italic;" /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><img width="320" hspace="5" height="240" border="2" src="/blog/uploads/misc/the_old_man_cactus_2.jpg" /><br style="font-style: italic;" /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cacti are controversial. Most people would NEVER plant cactus….<br />
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Until now.<br />
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Cacti have been looking really fresh to me lately…. Hmmmmmm…<br />
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I do adore the cactus known as ‘Old Man Cactus’.</span><br /></div><br />Well, it’s about time. Cactus have been design staples in modern home and garden design for at least the past hundred years. And more popular than ever in this newest of centuries.<br /><br />

Hap is from Alaska. I wonder if the <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1785&amp;entry_id=1593" title="http://www.adn.com/life/story/260436.html" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.adn.com/life/story/260436.html’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Anchorage Daily News</a> ever featured his greenhouse full of cactus in their paper.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><br /><img width="432" border="2" src="/blog/uploads/misc/403-3358758.standalone.prod_affiliate.7.jpg" /></div><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Fran Flint at home in Anchorage with her collection of cacti and succulents. The barrel cactus she is holding is at least 20 years old, she says, and it’s her favorite.<br />
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Photo: FRAN DURNER / Anchorage Daily News</span><br /></div><br />According to Hap’s sister, who stills lives there, there hasn’t been too much snow this year.<br /><br />

Our intrepid correspondent Abigail Mahnke from Austin, TX tooks these pictures of the junk/art/nuisance/cactusplanter/car near Austin. The judge has ruled that it is a nuisance, but the owners are taking them all the way to the supreme court if that’s what it takes.<br /><br /><img width="432" hspace="5" height="324" border="2" src="/blog/uploads/misc/DSCN3973b.jpg" /><br /><br />Now that I see it, I’m leaning more towards nuisance. Especially with that Ron Paul sign. Those crazy f’in libertarians…<br /><br /><img width="432" hspace="5" height="324" border="2" src="/blog/uploads/misc/DSCN3970a.jpg" /><br /><br />

I don’t know what this article is about, so here’s a quote, and we’ll leave it at that.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The home is heated by a rocket stove, a special wood-burning stove. Kale grows on his sod-covered roof. The wind blusters outside, but the inside of his home is cozy, dry and quiet. It’s warm enough and light enough for Boreen, an accomplished gardener, to tend to <span style="font-weight: bold;">an array of cacti and succulents</span>. In the summer, the home is pleasantly cool, he said.</span><br /></div><br />That’s from the <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1784&amp;entry_id=1590" title="http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080110/LIVING03/565224720" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080110/LIVING03/565224720′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Everett (WA) Herald</a>. Some kind of human interest story, I suppose.<br /><br />

The Cactus Car Planter – art or nuisance – <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1783&amp;entry_id=1589" title="http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/local/local_story_017111133.html" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/local/local_story_017111133.html’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">lawsuit in Austin</a> takes on a decidely consititutional character as the business owners refuse to move it. <br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Less than a week after Municipal Judge John Burke ruled the Oldsmobile turned cactus planter outside the San Marcos Planet K store a “public nuisance,” the company’s founder and CEO has filed in district court for an injunction, and the city of San Marcos is about to turn it over to the feds….<br />
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“Over a cactus planter? Federal Court?,” he said…. “All we wanted to do is to beautify a car and beautify our property and we did that…. the worst part is bureaucrats are continuing to waste taxpayer money on nonsense like a cactus planter….&quot;<br />
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In the meantime, the car will stay where it is. “The city will not do anything until everybody’s had the opportunity to be heard, so it will sit there.”</span><br /></div><br />I’m sending our Texas reporter out to get a look. Hopefully she’ll report back soon.<br /><br />

Nancy George’s North Florida Gardening Guide recommends succulents for your North Florida garden. I wonder what constitutes North Florida? The top half of the state, or just the panhandle area? My parents moved to Sarasota which is in the middle of the Gulf Coast area, an hour south of Tampa. Looking at a map, one wonders….

Looking for plants with a contemporary element, unusual forms, vibrant colors, striking foliage and extraordinary flair while remaining low maintenance? Then look to succulents and cactus. Whether planted in large numbers or used as a single specimen these plants are both beautiful and enduring. The colors, shapes and textures are endless. There are so many varieties that can be either planted in the landscape or used in containers and a lot of these beauties are totally hardy to frost.

I would guess anything north of Tampa would be North FL, but then that would include Orlando.

Everybody loves them some cactus in winter when you can’t be out planting your garden and you want a little bit of sunshine in your kitchen window. Even in Indiana. The <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1778&amp;entry_id=1583" title="http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jan/08/year-round-greenery/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jan/08/year-round-greenery/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Evansville Courier &amp; Press</a> has a fresh article.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><img width="260" hspace="5" height="260" border="2" src="/blog/uploads/misc/home_20080107_indoorplants_banner.jpg" /> <br />Liven up winter with unexpected greenery – a cactus brings some sun to your décor.</span><br /></div><br />Nice. And I find that when you follow the primary election results coming out of Michigan that sometimes you find yourself laughing just a little at Mitt Romney. He’s a funny guy, that Mitt.<br /><br />

The <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1777&amp;entry_id=1582" title="http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=665&Itemid=2" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=665&Itemid=2′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Imperial Valley News</a> lets you know how to prepare for a lush Spring garden without resorting to watering.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">In these times of severe drought in many parts of the country, consumers are desperate for plants that will make their gardens shine, in spite of water restrictions. The secret is selecting plants that are naturally not thirsty.<br />
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Many of our own native plants, water-storing cactus and succulents for example, have evolved over time to tolerate dry conditions…. Prudent gardeners select companion plants with similar water needs.</span><br /></div><br />Now that’s true. I know a couple prudent gardeners, and they really do select prudent companion plants. But don’t quote me on that, because while they might be prudent and while the companion plants might be low water, everybody wants a little citrus too.<br /><br />

The Outdoors writer for the <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1776&amp;entry_id=1581" title="http://caller.com/news/2008/jan/06/sikesoutdoors/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://caller.com/news/2008/jan/06/sikesoutdoors/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Corpus Christi Caller Times</a> writes about hunting in the Chihuahuan Desert.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Beneath the hovering raptors plunged a steep canyon that separated us from Mexico and from several scrawny goats huddled on a narrow ledge of reddish rock….<br />
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Conditions were not ideal…. something caught my eye about 100 yards into my walk.<br />
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It was the face of a doe peering at me from behind a prickly pear cluster… I stopped and slowly removed the rifle from my shoulder… Before I could level the muzzle of my rifle, I noticed the back end of another deer extending from the other side of the cactus. It was a motionless buck.<br />
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I could see it’s antlers between the cactus pads.</span><br /></div><br />That’s some literary hunting.<br /><br />

We here at the Cactus Blog believe it is part of our mission to provide far-flung readers with local news wherever it may occur. Today, the local news happens to be in <a href="https://cactusjungle.com/archives/blog/exit.php?url_id=1775&amp;entry_id=1580" title="http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/218999" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/218999′;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Tucson</a>, but it could be in your hometown next, you know.<br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">City Council honors desert-plant lover</span><br />
Dick Wiedhopf was about 10 years old and riding a bike near his Los Angeles home when he came across a discarded prickly pear cactus pad near some garbage cans.<br />
He carefully picked it up, took it home and planted it. Wiedhopf, now 67, has been salvaging and planting desert plants ever since. </span><br /></div><br />Very nice human interest story. Practically brings a lump in your throat.<br /><br />