Prickly Pear Cactus
The challenge to cooks and gardeners is working around the thorns. Most species bear long, wickedly sharp thorns protruding in clusters from evenly spaced aeroles. Surrounding the thorns are "glochids," fine hair ... [... more]
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Succulent Plants
A stem cutting is the easiest way to propagate most succulent plants. The best time to take a cutting is in the spring, after the plant's dormant period. Avoid making the cutting too long, as it will wilt before it ... [... more]
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Propagating Cacti
For rooting rosette and leaf succulents, start by taking a good size cutting from the mother plant. Twist off leaves on the lower few inches of the stem--but don't throw the leaves away. Stick the cutting into the ... [... more]
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Growing Saguaro At Home
An emerging saguaro cactus seedling. First, fill the container with soil. Fill it 3/4 full, right up to the lip of the container. Then top it off with 1/4-inch pea gravel. Sprinkle the seeds on top of the gravel. ... [... more]
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Cactus Babies
Use a well-drained potting soil that contains equal parts of potting mix, pumice and clean sand. Give the potted-up cuttings full sun and cool temperatures. Water in the same way you would water a fully established ... [... more]
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Succulents
Succulents don't prefer a rich, improved soil like most other plants, but instead they like their soil on the lean side. So before planting, prepare a potting mix that combines a store-bought soil mix with an equal ... [... more]
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Cacti And Succulents
Like other houseplants, cacti hate being overwatered. The worst thing you can do is water them on a regular schedule. Instead, water them only when needed--when the soil is bone-dry. How long it will take for soil to ... [... more]
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Grafting Cacti
Before making any cuts in the plants, make sure your hands and all equipment are clean. Carefully cut about one inch off the top of the base cactus. If the central core tissue is not exposed, then take another thin ... [... more]
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Kids And Gardening
A: Start by explaining how being around plants will help them develop a kinship with all living things, then show them how working in the garden can soothe the soul and calm the senses. You might even discuss with ... [... more]
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Agave Trail
With pointy, treacherous, dagger-like leaves and toxic juices,the agave is Mother Nature's barbed-wire fence. At Alcatraz, the agaves were planted in the early 1900s to prevent erosion, beautify the island and deter ... [... more]
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Euphorbia Diaspora
Imagine some prehistoric plant, the common ancestor inhabiting that land mass. Individuals that wandered off with Africa became exposed to many of the same brutal climatic conditions as those remaining in America. ... [... more]
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All Hail The Efficacious Aloe
Here in modern America, kids are more at home with circuits of a computer than the fertile earth, and yet we shared an age-old botanical ritual. It dates back to well before 1500 B.C., in the written medical material ... [... more]
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