Cactus Blog

We’re going big into birdfeeders and birdhouses this year. Here’s our new bird tree display.

Yay! The new signage is here!

That’s Hap. Good thing he finished the new bamboo rows and sign last week, because this week he has the flu.

Tylecodon wallichii parent plant is growing back nicely after cuts last year. We should have a couple of those babies available this spring, but not too many, considering how dangerous it is.

Keith is cutting up the big bamboo stakes and making pots.

That’s a Leuchtenbergia principis in it.

Ian mulches the organic veggie trough.

We have our first early crop of veggies and herbs out, and just in time since it looks like we’ll be getting into the 60s today.

Ian planted our small display trough. Looks delicious.

We’re hiring a full time propagation manager. Our craigslist ad is here.

We’ve never hired a manager before. We’re going to have to revise all our prepared questions. Any ideas what questions we should ask of a propagation manager?

The flood subsided. We’re back and open again. But it is still raining.

Pelargonium tetragonum – not usually this leafy. Mostly a lot of sticks, with an occasional leaf. But they seem to like this new wetter winter.

Well, now, this is interesting. I’m not even sure I should be posting this. Maybe I’ll post it without a link.

There is a posting on Craigslist offering to sell some of our fully punched frequent buyer cards. Who knew there was a market for such a thing?

Here’s the photo that goes with the post.

Looking carefully, I can tell that 2 of the cards are really old, from back when we were a backyard nursery.

The L.A. Times says they’re featuring our Tillandsia Wreaths in Saturday’s paper! Woohoo!

If you get the Times, check it out, and send us a copy too, OK?

Our Lipson Robotics show continues.

We now carry ant farms at the nursery. I was so excited I just had to tell you.

And it comes with seeds and tools and things too!

Mike is the newest member of the Cactus Jungle team. He’s a tree person, but here he is cleaning the canopy that we’re putting up for winter. I think it’s to keep the Pachypodiums warm.

Nice pots.

I came upon some photos of the nursery on flickr, by Syene, sandwiched between photos of Sacramento and Vallejo.

Nice!

Yesterday I forgot to mention that we’re also now making Tillandsia Wreaths.

That looks like hundreds of tillandsias on that wreath, but then I haven’t counted so I could be totally off.

There’s been a lot of demand this year for succulent wall panels.

This is our new design for a wood-framed succulent wall panel that you can hang on the wall vertical or horizontal.

Yay!

The Robot Show is coming to the nursery November 6.

The other nurseries got nothing on this.

Yes, we are having our 30% off all 1/5ga. natives this week.

I figure I have to post this on the blog, even though it seems more like a sales pitch than a blog post. Oh well.

If the IRS ever audits this site, then they can determine indisputedly that this site is just one cog in our corporate* behemoth**. And you thought this was simply one little crazy garden and cactus blog. How sweet; how naive.

*by corporate I mean sole proprietor.

**by behemoth I mean small independent garden center.

It is an extra muggy day here in Berkeley. All you people living in Florida probably think we’re wimps, but I don’t like this at all. It’s 66°F and 84% Humidity. Oh, the humanity.

And we’re busy setting up for our 2nd annual Native Plant Sale. (That’s 30% off all 1 and 5ga. natives 10/18-10/25) so you can imagine how muggy it must feel here.