Palm Springs!

Matt and I got married and are back from our week-long honeymoon in Palm Springs, California. First of all, the wedding was absolutely wonderful. I had planned and planned and planned for this day, and it was every bit as beautiful and perfect as I had imagined.

We spent five full days in lovely Palm Springs. The whether was very nice--warm and sunny, being in the desert and all. We had a full list of things we wanted to do and see while there, and took lots and lots of pictures. At the top of my list was the Moorten Botanical Garden. A very short walk from our hotel, the garden is owned by the Moorten family and they have been running it for over 72 years!

I had looked them up online as we were planning this trip, and wasn't too sure what to expect when we got there. Let me tell you, it was amazing! I was kind of thinking the "garden" consisted of a covered greenhouse with a collection of overgrown cacti (from what I've seen in photos online, and reviews I've read). But it is actually a beautiful outdoor "Desertland" with paths and signs of countless verities of gorgeous cacti and succulent specimens from around the world, as well as many desert trees, other plants, and all sorts of other neat stuff. Well, here, see for yourself:

This cacti has a dense coat of beautiful white spines.


From this photo, you can see the abundance of plants in the garden.

There were a lot of these tall, skinny cacti spread around the garden. These are nestled into some interestingly textured wood, others were growing out of a covering of volcanic rock (see below). So beautiful!

In all honesty, I was too busy "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" over the plants to take note of the names of many of them. But I'm pretty sure this is a very large Beavertail cactus Matt is posing next to.

Above is an Occotillo. It looks like a bunch of dead spiny sticks stuck in the ground, but it is actually alive and grows tiny leaves and flowers. I love the variation in color.

I was facinated by these barrell cacti. It's neat how they form clumps and kind of pile on top of each other.

(above) A huge agave

Outside the "World's First" Cactarium:

Like a kid in a candy store. "Wow," I kept saying.

(Above and Below) these were two of the most beautiful cacti I've ever seen!!

From this shot (I apologize for all the photos of me in them, but Matt insisted on taking a lot) you can see just how many different varities are in the Cactarium (the greenhouse at the back of the garden.)

Above is an interesting form of Crassula Gollum. A very gnarly, woody stem. Below is a large, rare Cotyledon that I actually bought a small specimen of in the "gift shop" of the garden. Lucky me!!






I like this unusual succulent (aloe??)



The owners of the garden have a very good eye for neat stuff to decorate with. Below is an actual dinosaur foot print discovered in Arizona. They also had large fossils of sea shells, beautiful big chunks of white gypsum that looked like ice, volcanic rocks, ancient petrified tree trunks, even a huge chair carved out of an enormous tree trunk.







One of the few cacti blooms we saw.


There was even a corral of tortoises! We were there just in time for breakfast!




A really neat Asian-inspired section of the garden--Buddha is perched atop a mini-staircase underneath an amazing white-barked tree.


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If you ever have a chance to visit this place--do it!! It is heaven for any cacti and succulent lover. At just $3 to get in, you can't go wrong. They also have a large area of plants for sale, as well as some other fun stuff. This was easily my favorite thing we did this trip.







Stay tuned for Part Two of the Palm Springs blog posts: Richard Neutra's Kaufman House!

Two Gasterias

My mom has a large Gasteria Obtusa that I had been admiring for several years. This past spring, I noticed a few baby off-shoots in the pot and asked if I could have one or two. She brought them over and they both looked like the one on the left, above. It seems the one on the right is thriving (notice the bright green color and fat new growth in the center) while the one on the left is thin and the color is dull, it does not seem as firmly rooted either. I have been using a fertilizer on both of them, hoping it will help the skinnier twin look a little better, but still no change.

Garden Tour

The leaves are already starting to fly, so I thought I should share photos of my garden before all the plants come inside. One of my most favorite things about our apartment is the large deck/balcony we have off the living room which allows me to put almost all my plants outside for the warm months of the year. It gets sun a good part of the day, and is just perfect for my cacti and succulents.

Above is a tall Aeonium I bought from a very interesting greenhouse near Milwaukee. Matt and I were visiting his friend for a weekend and while out, we drove by several large greenhouses and stopped at one. As soon as we walked in the door, there were cacti and succulents almost as far as the eye could see (well, maybe not that many). The plants looked a little neglected (some had outgrown their pots--including this Aeonium, and there was lots of dead fallen leaves all over) and none had prices on them. So after awhile of "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" at all the interesting and unusual varieties, I selected a few plants and this is one of them. To the right is a sedum "burrow's tail" that is growing like mad.

My cat, Adler (his full name is Adler Lloyd Bernard Frackleton) loves to sit on our Leopold bench Matt's dad built for us. I am growing herbs and tomatoes this year (first time ever) and they are all doing really well.

My two tomato plants--one is an heirloom "purple"-something. The fruit off this plant is incredible. The top half of the ripe tomato is dark green while the bottom half is a burgundy red. Inside the flesh is juicy blood red and has an amazing sweet, earthy taste. The other plant is less impressive--just your run-of-the-mill red tomatoes. I will most definitely be growing the heirlooms again next year.

Towards the left of this photo is my smart idea for fitting lots of cacti and succulents in a small area. I bought an inexpensive metal shelving kit at Home Depot (less than $20). It looks great and can be re-purposed during the winter to hold pots and soil in the garage, or whatever else you might need it for. One caveat is that it can be difficult to reach plants towards the back without moving others out of the way.

Last year I just had two small outdoor side-tables that I used for holding plants which looked ok, but I think now this year our deck really looks great.

Above, at the top of the photo, and below is one of my favorite plants. It is another of the lot I bought in Milwaukee. Crassula Rogersii. It has grown like crazy since I repotted it and put it outside.

I love scouring thrift stores and garage sales for vintage and hand-made pots and other decorative pieces, which you can see throughout my photos.

Wise Old Garden Owl watches over everything and brings Peace and Good Luck :)

Cacti Collection

This is my small collection of cacti. When I started, I was only interested in succulents and didn't have a single cacti until about two years into it. Now I love them! Truth be told, it was getting a bit hard to find succulents in garden centers and green houses that I didn't already have, so I was kind of forced to move onto cacti.

I'm not sure what kind this little guy is (maybe a mini barrel?):

Below is a very interesting "fairy castle" cacti with all kinds of off-shoots, and the Rhipsalis is in the foreground.

I'm quite sure the plant on the bottom right is a Echinopsis. The one towards the center in the blue pot is a Opuntia. I am thinking the one with the yellow spines looks like a small Parodia Mammulosa. No matter what they are called, they are beautiful!

This tall guy is one I bought from Mark at Creekside farm this summer. It is about 1.5-2 feet tall. Maybe a Pilosocerus with that new blue growth and hairy covering?

Lots of Fun at the Farmer's Market

We went to the Market this morning. Creekside Farm stand is always the highlight for me. It is owned by Mark and Chris, who come all the way from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and bring with them beautiful succulents and very interesting and unusual produce. Above are a few examples of their fabulous succulent dish gardens.

I had e-mailed Mark earlier in the week asking if he had any small Crassula Rupestris. He said he just had one large one, but that he would bring some similar others for me to peruse. Sure enough! He brought a whole box full of wonderful specimens, and even some cuttings of the rupestris (below). I apologize for the blurry photos, my camera seems to be on the fritz.

This was my haul from today:

This little guy (Crassula "Baby Necklace") is similar to the rupestris, and it seems their names are interchangeable.

(Below) I'm not sure of the name of this one, although Mark said it is about 7-8 years old. I really love the woody stem and the beautiful colorful leaves. This has to be my favorite of the four I got today.

Below is the crassula coulmnnella. You can see on the right there are actually two "branches" starting to grow from the center.

These are Mouse Melons. Just one example of the really neat produce Chris and Mark grow. They taste just like a cucumber but with a tangy lime flavor. There was also some teeny-tiny cherry tomatoes on the vine, and last year they had purple tomatillos!