Repotting Cactus

 

Tricholobivia 'Flying Saucer Cactus'

     I had some fun today transplanting this Tricholobivia 'Flying Saucer' Cactus into a larger pot.  It was overdue as the cactus was pressing against the black pot from all directions.  I wrapped the cactus in some old towels and then cardboard, to protect my hands while I was getting it out of the old pot and into the new pot.  I only got one spine in my hand and that happened just as I was getting started!

     Now there is room for the new stems (the other is on the backside) to grow.  The biggest stem is 27 inches, and that's about as tall as it will get, but it will continue to grow more stems.  This plant is known for it's blooms and I have posted it's blooms several times.  Below is a picture of the day I received it (three years and three months ago) as a birthday gift from Mike.

Tricholobivia 'Flying Saucer Cactus'

Sarracenia Flava - "Bone Pit"

 

     This is my Sarracenia Flava (an American Pitcher plant), I was tiding it up and getting it into more light.  This is it's first full growing season and so far the pitchers are just over a foot tall.  Next year I expect the pitchers to get 2-3 feet tall.  There were three pitchers that were more horizontal than vertical so I cut them off.  I wanted to take a look inside the pitchers, so I made a cut the length of the pitcher then opened it up.

     Now I can see the exoskeletons of all the bugs the plant had digested.  It looks like a bone pit and I find this amazing!

Monkey Tail Blooms!

Monkey Tail Cactus AKA Cleistocactus Colademononis

      I bought this Monkey Tail Cactus AKA Cleistocactus Colademononis about 4 years ago and at that time it had only one tail that was about four inches long.  It now has six tales and the longest tail is now 36 inches.  There was one bloom near the end of the tail.

After the one bloom, a cluster of seven blooms appeared and they were popular with the hummingbirds..

Monkey Tail Cactus Cleistocactus Colademononis

Monkey Tail Cactus Cleistocactus Colademononis

A Mississippi Garden!

 

Van Hull's greenhouse made out of old windows.

     In early June we visited a very good friend Van Hull.  He lives in Louisville Mississippi, and here are some pictures of his incredible garden.

     Van's greenhouse is made of old windows, that he found at antique, consignment and architectural salvage stores.  He Found the two arched windows in New Orleans, and they came out of the old Bultman Funeral Home.  When winter approaches he will move his citrus and other non-cold hardy plants into the greenhouse for the winter. 

     Van has remodeled this old cabin into a showcase.  The carport aka Pavilion, is on the left and that's where we will begin our tour of the garden.

There were several Spathiphyllums in the pavilion and they were all amazing!

This is the view from the swing

Notice the hanging ferns over the pathway!

This is the view of the fountain from the porch off the bedroom.

A little pathway from the fountain to columns, as seen from the cabin.

The vegetable garden is on the other side of the gate.

Yes, that's an outhouse.

But it's no ordinary outhouse!

Some really cool masks made by Michael Vinson.  There are lights behind them and they look really great at night.  I should have taken another picture!

Busy bees are happy bees!