Succulents and More™

My plant haul from my Arizona trip  is cactus-heavy this time. I did have a shopping list, but as always, some surprises managed to sneak their way in. I'd planned to get two Echinopsis hybrids (or Trichocereus if you prefer), 'Flying Saucer' and 'First Light', to put in the space  recently vacated by Agave  'Crazy Horse' . But when I saw how beautiful the yellow-and-white flowers of 'June Noon' are, and when Jeff Moore of Arid Adaptations Nursery told me that it reblooms throughout the summer, I had to have it, too. Top left: Echinopsis 'June Noon', top right:  Echinopsis  'Flying Saucer', bottom:  Echinopsis  'First Light' Four agaves came home with me: Agave ocahui , perfect when I bought it at Bach's Cactus Nursery, but it got  agave edema on the way home from being stuck in the back of the car where it was hot and relatively dark. It'll outgrow it, but I'm still bummed. Agave pelona  from Greg Starr made the...

2000+ miles and a week on the road: Another trip to Arizona is in the can. This was the first time I visited Arizona in May, and things sure looked different than they do in late December, my usual time slot.  California may be in a drought, but Arizona is even worse off because their megadrought has been accompanied by record-breaking temperatures. Prickly pears are wrinkled like centenarians, and saguaros are exhibiting mass flowering in response to extreme environmental stress. Still, the beauty of the desert is undiminished, and being surrounded by it for five days was exactly what I needed to recharge my batteries. I took lots of photos—that goes without saying, doesn't it?—and will have a slew of posts in the weeks to come. As a teaser, here's a brief overview of where I was. On the road Arizona isn't around the corner from Northern California, so being on the road is a major part of any trip. Audiobooks— entertaining , not too brainy—help pass the time. And there are...