Cacti & Succulents Garden

There is a little bit time for Xmas decorations. Here is one idea to make an environmental friendly Xmas tree from pellet wood in minutes. Materials 1. Pellet 2. paint 3. LED lights 4. tools: marker, circular saw, hammer & nails, sand paper, paint brush Procedure 1. draw the tree shape on pellet 2. cut the tree shape 3. enforce (optional) adding two 2x4 to the sides to make the tree strong 4. sand and paint, use whatever color you like 5. put in the yard and put on the lights

Air plants (Tillandsia) for interior decoration have been popular for a while. They are evergreen, perennial flowering plants, which are native to Central and South America, the southern US. There are around 650 species, which naturally grow in diverse environment, from forests to deserts, from coasts to mountains. The name "air plant" comes from their capability to grow without soil. Most are epiphytes, which attach to other plants. However, they do not steal nutrients or water from their host, only using it as a home to grow on. And some are aerophytes, which have no roots and grow on shifting desert dirt. Most species absorb moisture and nutrients through the leaves from rain, dew, dust, decaying leaves and insects. Air plants photosynthesize through a process called CAM cycle, where they close their stomata during the day to prevent water loss and open them at night to fix carbon dioxide and release oxygen. This allows them to preserve water, because they can ...

Ann and I just came back from a vacation trip in Grand Canyon and Glen Canyon. It was 2006 when we visited Grand Canyon last time --- has been quite some time. For the first time, we tried campervan (Escape Campervans), which has bed and kitchen (including a tiny fridge). It gets chilly (around freezing point) at night these days. Staying in the van is definitely warmer and more comfortable than tent during camping. Schedule: Day 1: fly to Las Vegas Day 2: pick up the van, drive to Grand Canyon south rim. Day 3: hike South Kaibab Trail, free shuttle can take you around Day 4: spend the morning in grand canyon, drive to Lake Powell in the afternoon Day 5: hike Wiregrass Canyon Trail, Horseshoe Bend Day 6: Hanging Garden Trail, Antelope Canyon Tour Day 7: drop off the van, fly back I would like to share a few pictures Grand Canyon South Rim Grand Canyon South Rim  Elk Abert's Squirrel Glen Canyon Dam I call this 'ghost ship' Ho...

Materials: 1. Sandstone with holes In a hot summer day, Ann and I drove to Monterrey Bay and spent an afternoon on the beach. When I tried treasure-hunting for pretty shells, I was out of luck. Instead I picked some smooth sandstone with holes. I figured they should go well with cacti and succulents for decoration. 2. fine soil: since the holes are small, pick the coarse pieces, including pebbles and wood chips, out of the soil 3. baby succulents 4. small spoon and tweezers Procedure: It will literally take less than 1 minute. Use spoon to put a thin layer of soil inside the hole. Then carefully transfer the baby succulents in. Fill the hole with a little bit more soil. In the first two pictures, the sandstone is attached onto a coaster with living edge feeling. This requires a few more steps: 1. mill the bottom of sandstone on concrete surface to make it flat; 2. clean the bottom surface with polyester cloth --- all the dusts will be cleaned; ...

Soil is a mixture of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. If you have watched the movie "the Martian" (2015), you may remember Matt Damon used Martial dirt (minerals)  fertilized with human waste, which contains bacteria, and water to grow potatoes on Mars. Let's look at the components to have better idea of soil. Typical Soil Profile 1. Minerals Minerals include sand (size > 63 µm), silt (size > 2 µm) and clay (size < 2 µm). Generally, sand helps to drain water, and clay helps to retain water. The ratio of them will determine the soil texture. You may have heard "loam soil". Loan has sand-silt-clay of  40–40–20% by weight. Loam is considered ideal for gardening and agricultural uses because it retains nutrients well and retains water while still allowing excess water to drain away. And typical loam soil constitutes: Water (25%), Gases (25%), Sand (18%), Silt (18%), Clay (9%), Organic mat...

Both Aloe and Agave are succulents. They both have a rosette of fleshly leaves with spines. All agaves and some aloes are stemless (or nearly stemless). Both have varieties having small rosette and large rosette. Have a look of the picture below, can you tell which is which? Well, the left one is aloe bloomii, and the right one is agave americana. Although they look similar,  the aloe and agave are only distantly related, with their last common ancestor thought to exist around 93 million years ago, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth. Aloes are native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula; agaves are native to America continental --- across the Atlantic Ocean. Some aloes can grow into a tree up to 30' tall. Agaves will stay on the ground, with rosette size varying from 6" to 15'. Another important difference is their flowers. Agaves only bloom before they die. It takes 5 to 40 years for agaves to be mature. Then the growing point (center) develops into a tall flower...