Hamwild said:

Oh, I did not mean any offense about your age, I am sure you know how to handle/read your animals; I did not intend it to come across that way if it did. My Grandfather isn't as nimble as he used to be (and having had back surgery, that doesn't help).

Oh I see. I think the most I've seen around "these parts" are "dairy cows" and Angus. They are beautiful animals but definitely larger than I'm comfortable being around.

No offense was taken. I was never nimble and the aging process has made it a lot worse. There's just a certain amount of risk handling a large animal even if you are nimble. I'm just not prepared to give it up yet.

I understand.

Not a whole lot exciting going on here presently.

Wee mesh removal is proceeding at the speed of slow and painful but it is getting done. Ultimate goal is 2 months. More likely will be 3-4. Fine since I have October through February season wise to do stuff like this rather than plant.

The rain did provide me with a little surprise as well. Anticipating the flowers and the hummingbirds to come. In the meantime just enjoying the lovely varied shades of green and signs of life.

Have a good day all.
AG

Looking very green and luscious!

We got a little rain at the very start of fall (like half an inch) and it was enough to change the posture of the landscape agaves (which normally slouch to the core this time of year) so they are again mostly upright. Pretty amazing stuff. It was a watering holiday for me so I got a bit of a recharge as well.

A few random pictures here... aloe tree in fruit (yay more seeds to play with), crown of thorns doing its thing, and a closer look behind it where my baby seedlings are growing. Most of the cacti in the middle are native Ferocacti, all the Dudleyas (whitish blue finger plants) are also native.

I like your shelves Baja, I'm making some for the old greenhouse out of cement blocks and 8' 2x8s for my succulents, Epiphyllum and the Selenicereus cuttings which will give me more room in the other one for starting seeds.

Great flowers and nice shelving set up Baja! Chris your sounds pretty good too. Any places you can suggest to grab some free cinder blocks?


My husband said I'm not allowed to play with the power tools anymore. Every time I have something like shrubs and trees disappear or new holes get drilled in the wall and electronics moved.

Don't worry. There's always Quick Crete in a tube. I've discovered all kinds of things you can do with that. Far more permanent than nuts and bolts too. Muwahahahaha!!!

Went grocery shopping and inadvertently found the deal of the century. In their floral department of all places I stumbled across these goodies. Unbelievable! Despite the dead whatever it was in the middle I still got 7 extraordinary healthy and good sized plants for $7.00. But wait...there's more! Two Devil's Tongue Barrel and two Blue Barrel cacti for .50 cents each.

Here's a pic of the plants.
There's one of the plants lined up after I took them out of the pot and just prior to my putting them in the yard.
And yes...repurposed the bowl. Made a cute little winter home for the barrels. They can reside there until spring or whenever they look large enough to go in ground.

Have a good day all.
AG













Quick Crete. For the evil creative genius in you!

Nice buys AG! You got a better deal on those 12" bowls of cactus than I did on my 12" bowls of succulents. I think I paid $12.00 for each one at WM though the initial price was the same as yours. I haven't been to their garden center (it's probably already the Christmas Center) in awhile. I may stop to take a look.

Wish I did know where to get some free cinder blocks. I need about 40 for my raised wildflower bed I'm making and about a dozen for the shelves.

Used cinder blocks often show up in Freecycle listings. Keep a check, or even post a "wanted" ad.

Thanks guys!
Will keep an eye out for the cinderblocks.

Chris....Didn't get the plants at Wally World. I truly got them in a local chain grocery store. Surprised me as that was the last place I expected to see them.

They were all stacked nicely on a table in the floral department by some very overpriced ceramic pots and vases. They had several of these variety bowls of mixed cacti and the little individual ones outrageously discounted. (Can we say itching palm syndrome? )

They had barely sold which surprised me since the selection and size of the plants was so nice. Guess people think $5.00 bouquets of daisies go better with milk and eggs than cacti. I tried to convince the husband we needed less milk and eggs and more cacti but for some reason he wasn't rolling with that idea.
What a party pooper!

AgaveGirl1 said: I tried to convince the husband we needed less milk and eggs and more cacti but for some reason he wasn't rolling with that idea.
What a party pooper!

AgaveGirl1, All I can say is 'Woohoo' great deal.

plantmanager said:Used cinder blocks often show up in Freecycle listings. Keep a check, or even post a "wanted" ad.

I posted about a year ago on the Freecycle here for used pots, even nursery pots and have never received an answer. All that shows up around here is people looking for furniture or military clothes.

AG - I was at Wally World this afternoon and like I thought the entire inside garden center is now the Christmas Center. They had a few plants outside but oddly enough in one little spot on the inside they had about a dozen phalaenopsis orchids. They wanted $10.00/ea, maybe I'll wait for a few weeks to see if they reduce the price and grab some to add to my collection.

Chris, some freecycle groups are much more active than others. Our Arizona one is very active, but our NM one rarely has a message. I hope you can find some. Do you have Habitat for Humanity stores in your area? They have a lot of used building supplies of all kinds.

I never thought about checking there Karen. I'm pretty sure there's one around here, found it. I'll have to drive over and check it out.

They are worth checking out. They have so many useful things. I'm always eyeing all of the windows to use for cold frames or greenhouses. We have one professional one, but if I want any more, we'll have to design and build it ourselves.

A couple of discoveries in the public garden... "Bloodspot" about to put on a big show. Very exciting!

Coooooool!

Very nice. Surprises are wonderful and I'm glad you received a pleasant one today.

If you can snap a pic, I'm looking forward to seeing that Mangave in flower. Never have seen that before. That's the cutest little flower on the other. What plant is that? Old Man Cactus?

Couple of surprise discoveries in my garden.
Getting more flower stalks and ever closer to blooming.
And look.....Mangave is still alive. That's only because somehow I've managed not to kill it--- yet.










Have a good day all.
AG

It's been a week so I potted my Echeveria cuttings today