Cactus Blogs Hosted By Women

When I think of gardeners that grow cactus and succulent plants I don't always think of women. For some reason I always assume that cactus plants are grown mostly by men. Perhaps, I associate men with cacti and succulent plants because I see more men on forums and websites about these unusual plants. Or maybe it is the fact that cactus and succulent plants aren't always pretty looking plants on the surface. Gardening as a whole seems to be dominated by women where the subset of cacti and succulent plants to me seem to be dominated by men.

But on the blogosphere I've discovered two female gardeners that have helped shape my ideas of who grows cacti and succulent plants. Since I started a gardening blog I've become acquainted with two of them through my blog. While both women host blogs about the same plants and share valuable information on how to grow cacti and succulents their blogs are different. The biggest difference results from geography, one woman grows cacti in Arizona and the other grows cacti in Jamaica.

Jade blogs at "Sticky Fingers" where she shares photos and information on growing cacti plants in Jamaica. Her perspective and information is unique because she lives in a climate that doesn't always suit itself to growing cacti plants. Take her Cereus pernambucensis thats she grew from seed in 2003 that was damaged after Hurricane Dean passed through her area in August. One of the things I really admire about Jade and her cactus collection is that she does grow a lot of her plants from seeds as you can see in the entry on repotting her cacti. Jade's cactus blog is a treasure of information for those looking to identify a cactus or succulent plant in their collection.

The second female blogger that grows cacti and succulent plants is Aiyana from Arizona. Her blog "Water When Dry" is also about cacti and succulent plants but I've only recently become familiar with her blog after we exchanged comments. She too takes some nice pictures of plants and writes detailed information about the cactus and succulents in her collection. As an urban gardener with limited space I'm amazed at the amount of plants she has in her collection. What I particularly like about her blog is that her garden is low water use and great for the Arizona climate. I lived in Arizona for a while and was always amazed at the people who moved there from areas like the Midwestern United States and forced the ideas of lawns on an environment that can't sustain them. I met a lot of gardeners in Arizona who could benefit from reading Water When Dry and taking the plants she profiles and importing them into their gardens.

I have to give these two garden blogs 5 out of 5 stars because they are good resources for people who want to grow cacti and succulent plants. Stop by and be inspired by these garden blogs and be amazed by the variety of colors that a cactus can produce. Yes, cacti do flower.

The Cactus Shop

Recently I noticed that Home Depot was carrying a selection of Cacti & Succulents that were branded with the name "The Cactus Collection" I asked on the C&S forum of GW and discovered that it was part of Altman's Plants. Little did I know but they'd been supplying the C&S to Home Depot I'd been buying for a while now and this "new" selection was just an extension of their plants.

I think this line of Cacti & Succulents being made available in a major retailer is a good thing for the C&S enthusiasts and for houseplant collectors in general. When you buy one you get a plastic stake that has the name and area of origin of the plant and some details on cultivation. If you're luck the tags haven't been moved by customers or employees and you ID tag will be right. But once you get it home take the tag with you to your computer
and do a Google search for the plant's name and make sure it's
correct. If there are any discrepancies or you can't arrive at a proper ID for you plant look for a Cacti & Succulent forum like the
one on GW and see if you can get some help.

Two of my most sought after plants came from this new line. I had been looking for Echeveria 'Black Prince' and for a start of Senecio Rowleyanus for about a year and had no luck finding them in a store near me. I had seen them offered on-line but I wanted to buy these two plants in person. And I'm glad I stumbled into the store the days I found these because they're pretty cool plants.

If you can't find this collection near you, you can always order from the website above but I can't really tell you how good the shipping or plants are because I've only ever picked them up at a Home Depot. The website is also a good resource for people looking for information because the names are matched up with photos. I've used it a couple of times to get plant IDs for people on gardening forums.

I have to give The Cactus Collection ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 stars because they have expanded the variety of Cacti & Succulents made available to enthusiasts like myself who have a hard time finding interesting plants in a retail setting that are affordable. I know you can easily find these plants on-line but to me part of the joy is being able to see a plant before you actually buy it.

Ceropegia Woodii- A Plant Review

Ceropegia Woodii is an evergreen-flowering plant native to South Africa. It is often commonly referred to as 'String-of-Hearts' or 'Rosary Vine' and if you look at the image attached to this entry it should be clear why it has gotten those common names. The leaves are heart- shaped and green with white marbling and it develops little tubers along the vines that will root when they come in contact with soil.

It likes bright light and in my care it I have observed it to tolerate heat well and like medium waterings and bright light and well draining soil. I actually have two of them the Ceropegia Woodii picture you see above and another plant that has smaller arrowhead like leaves.

As a hanging plant it has received a lot of compliments and questions even though I have yet to get it to flower for me (yes, it does flower) but it's my life's goal to see it do so. On my second plant the tendrils are about 4 feet in length and I propagate it from cuttings or by sitting the tubers it develops on a soil surface. If I notice some shrinkage in the tubers I know I've gone too long in watering it and it needs a drink.

You really should give this wonderful plant a try it's vining nature makes it an awesome hanging plant that can be kept out of the reach of children and pets. But if you're short on space to hang this plant grow it on a wire topiary frame of various shapes and sizes.

I have to give Ceropegia Woodii ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ out of 5 stars. It's a great plant to have in your Cacti & Succulent collection or any houseplant collection.

My other blogs are:

MrBrownThumb
GardenHacker

Bryophyllum

Byrophyllum.com is the website dedicated to "the joys of cultivating plants of the genus Bryophyllum in the family of Crassulaceae." Byrophyllums (try saying that ten times really fast) are those plants commonly called "Mother of Thousands" or "Mother of Millions" amongst others. This website features information on plant identification and culture for these unique plants. It also has a gallery, and a really slow forum and exchange page.

The design of the website is pretty utilitarian and doesn't offer any frills but in away it is very apt because I don't find these succulent plants to be extraordinary. They're nice enough plants and I have a couple in my Cacti & Succulent collection but once you get over the "oh how neat" feeling of seeing the pups on the leaves you get over it. The Google ads on the site in the middle of the text could be described as intrusive but again it fits this plant perfectly. Because once you have one growing you'll be finding pups growing all over your growing space.

I give Bryophyllum.com ★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 stars because it is a site dedicated to a specific plant. I have to admire the time and energy spent on keeping the site alive there should be more pages like this from plant lovers on the internet that share information about whatever plant you're passionate about.

If you have a garden related product or service that you'd like to have reviewed visit this blog.

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