We've started a recession-busting $5 plant special, featuring new plants, overstocks and others. You'll find them on our specials page from time to time.

We always seem to have requests for Christmas Cactus plants in the new year, so this year we saved a few to sell. They are the same plants that we sell as holiday gifts, except we leave off the gift pot, holiday wrapping and decoration. We'll be shipping them bareroots, as well, like we do our other plants. If you gave one for Christmas but were not on the receiving end, here's your chance to treat yourself and also save on the cost. Click here to see.

To make room for our holiday inventory, we are reducing the price of our Large Gibbiflora Mauna Loa by 33% -- while supplies last. These red and green beauties are substantial and sizeable. They are nicely colored red by the summer sum. Fall is a great time to plant, as well. Click for details.

One thing to avoid with cacti is misting the plant (succulents are not as sensitive). Many people are used to tropical plants which actually like moisture on their leaves... cacti do not, they tend to develop skin fungus, discolorations and other not-so-pretty problems. So, even if it is hot and you wish you could mist yourself... spare your cactus.

The euphorbia knuthii is a very interesting plant... it is one of the only euphorbia which form a caudex. The stems grow and flow, and can be cut back periodically to shape the plant. Stems are nicely varigated. We have these in 4 inch diamter pots, the plants themselves are about 8+ inches tall.

Yikes! Grabbed a cooking pot with the wrong side of the oven mitt and the only thing sizzling was my hand. Immediately I applied ice (this stops the internal burning) and then cut an inch long piece off the aloe vera plant that we keep in our kitchen. Aloe vera is one of the strongest and best burn medicines in existence and the pure gel from the plant is not diluted with any additives. I kept applying the aloe vera ever few minutes (it seemed to soak in rapidly). I can definitely say that it did the job: next day the blisters were gone, they redness was pretty much gone and ill effects minimal.
Keeping an aloe vera plant in your kitchen or other handy place is a good idea. Like a fire extinguisher, you may not need it often but when you do need it, you do need it!
Aloe vera is also very good for skin irritations of all types, including sunburn. This might be a good time to stock up for summer, we offer two plants for $13.25 plus shipping, single plants only $6.95.

We just came upon a few large trichocereus peruvianus, the famed peruvian torch plant. Earlier this year we had some two foot versions, which rapidly sold out, the new stock is 3-4 feet, branched and beautiful. They are collectible and would make an excellent garden centerpiece. Also, for interiorscaping, they'll grow well in a container provided that they light is bright and that you don't overwater. We only have a few of these.

Unfortunately, we have had to raise our shipping rates a little to accomodate the new USPS rates. We've also switched some of our packages to FedEx Ground. Most of our increases were less than $1.

You'll notice that we now sell Horticultural Perlite by the one-gallon bag. A bag this size will augment a standard large bag of potting mix. Our Perlite is $4.95... we just saw a smaller bag at the garden store for $14... yikes! Most cactus blend specialty mixes that you buy at the store are basically a mixture of soil and Perlite (or other inorganic materials). Perlite is a type of puffed glass. It helps keep soil from compacting so that water drains away from the plant and the small bubbles on the surface help retain nutrients. We suggest adding it to all of your soil mixes.

It was one heck of a winter here in California (apologies to upstate New York!). A surprising freeze in late January caused substantial damage to plants, some outdoor growers were virtually wiped out. In the coming few months, this could cause shortages (or non-availability) of several types of plants: agave attenuatas and echeverias in particular were hard hit, but we've seen and heard of many other nurseries with severe damage. Look for prices to rise this spring and summer (we'll do our best to hold the line). But if you want echeverias, buy them early because supplies may run out later in the year.

We've just added the Agave Medio Pica Alba to our inventory. These are great looking agaves, about 10+ inches in diameter. Agaves will grow rapidly in the spring and summer months, so, get them in the ground asap. The white strip on these agaves is georgeous, looks like it was painted on it is so perfectly imperfect. These look very nice in a landscape setting, over time they will grow very full and about 4 feet tall.

The cardon cactus (pachycereus pringlii) is one of the classics that we've often seen when driving through Baja California. The is the world's tallest cactus of record -- can reach 60 feet, not that we are counting. We have some beautiful nursery grown specimens that are about 10 inches tall.

We just added two new dish garden gifts for spring and Mother's Day -- one is a hanging cactus garden and the other is a bulb-type pot containing four succulent plants.
They make nice self-contained, low maintenance gifts. The succulent garden would be nice for recipients where cactus spines might create problems... such as kids, elderly, bridal showers (yes, many people give cacti as a bridal shower gift!).
Since cacti grow slowly, this garden should last quite a while before the plants out grow it.

If you experienced freeze damage, best to not hack things up too soon. Pull off any wet, black or mushy parts, so they won't spread the damage. But you can let the plants go for the rest of the winter before cutting into the live part.

If you are expecting additional snow or freezing, styrofoam cups placed over the tips of plants can save them from freezing.

We have two really excellent column cacti in stock right now: the Stetsonia Coryne and the Pilosocereus Azureus.
Stetsonia is sometimes called the all-weather cactus because it has a very wide range of temperature and moisture tolerance. The ones we have are about 7-9 inches tall, they grow relatively rapidly and once they reach 2-3 feet they branch out arms. They are quite beautiful, somewhat like a saguaro but without the wide central trunk.

The pilosocereus is amazing, a very pale shade of blue with yellow spines. We have them in the 15-20 inch range, several years old. They would look great in a container, will continue growing more tall and broad. This is a limited supply -- we found them at a specialty grower who had forgotten about them, so we bought all the large ones that were available.

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