I guess I've dodged a bullet.....no mealies here. It's gotten mite before in the past though!

Yeah, I hadn't seen them until I got the one plant. They've been trying to spread to my other Hoya, but I keep knockin' 'em back. This last time *might* have done it - put everything outside in 45º+/- . Figured if that didn't kill the plant...

That's cool, literally!

I was reading a publication that some college put out about greenhouse growing, and they mentioned the lower temps had nearly wiped out their bug population, so I thought I'd try it. Can't believe the hoya (that and a croton) didn't croak on me!

That's good news!

Hoyas, Stapeliads - anything in that same family seems to be a mealy magnet!! Bayers/ Imidacloprid before bringing them inside in the Fall helps. Until about February....then they start smiling again.

Ugh. Well, I'll enjoy my break while I can.....

I grow my plants in the basement which gets cool in the winter so that probably has an impact on the bug population. I'm very pleased to say aside from scale on a few succulents I had no bug problems this winter Regular watering also helps to deter bugs I've noticed, I water a little everyday so the plants never dry and that way they won't get stressed.

I have two Elephant Foot Palms, next to the pool. Two branches broke from a thunderstorm, so I soaked , then powdered them with root hormone and stuck them in a pot. A few years later and the bases are starting to expand.

This cactus is always in bloom but the flowers blend in so I miss many of them!! Caught it today!

Is this your cactus? Fuzzy thing!
http://plantlust.com/plants/Ma...

Albert, good save.

Pachypodium horombense is in its bloom season, it will be fully leafed out in Summer.

That certainly looks like it!
Wow beautiful flower but scary houseplant with all those "teeth"!

I was just picturing myself getting up in the middle of the night and running into that puppy - youch!

The spines on this one are very similar to Pachypodium densiflorum, I find them very attractive, something nice to look at when the plant is dormant.
You wouldn't want to run into a good specimen of Pachypodium lealii or saundersii, the sharp needle-like spines draw blood! I used to have a huge plant in the living room window, that's when we started to use a golf club to draw the curtains in the evening.

LOL! I can picture it- too funny!

Here it is
http://www.kammlott.net/Pachyl...
Unfortunately it needed to be repotted in 2001. I made the mistake to re-pot in the Spring and then we had a lot of rain. Bad combination! A bit of rot set in and although I removed the affected part, it went downhill. Sad. I had rooted a couple of cuttings previously but had given them away. Oh well, but I have now a couple of saundersii plants growing again.

about the golf club. So sorry about losing such a great plant. I don't think I'd want to repot very often!!

This proves that all spikes don't produce flowers, occasionally just pain, but the blooms are wonderful.

Clivia miniata


Amaryllis Black Pearl is a large plant with 4 + foot leaves that don't cone close to supporting themselves and the blooms are rather short lived, a week or less, but it is a beautiful deep red.

Just beautiful!