I don't find ssp winteri to be particularly pendant - mine grew upright to a height of about 20" before starting to lean then topple. Interesting variation in individual plants. I don't wish to embarrass it, but my own plant clearly has considerable difficulty with achieving any significant 'v...

Wouldn't the very upright nature of this particular plant also suggest a hybrid as the species is usually sprawling or pendant?

Found this Notocactus (or Parodia if you fancy that more) warasii flowering today. Very sweetly scented. Mine doesn't have any scent either, so you have a welcome bonus there. A pretty flower that l always I look forward to, especially as my specimens of N. magnificus are very reluctant to flower. ...

Always used facial tissue. Though it looks flimsy it lasts long enough until the compost consolidates after a few
waterings.

Many suggested that it does this when and if it wants to. Yes, I would say that sums it up very succinctly! Once my plant just skipped a whole year, and I thought it must have died (but it hadn't). This year it was in leaf all Spring and Summer until about one month ago. It then went dormant, I cut...

If it is uninsulated and unheated then the shed is not going to be that fundamentally different from your polytunnel idea, except much more wind-resistant and therefore far less risky. You would probably get protection from a marginal frost that lasts a few hours, but during a longer sustained freez...

Yes, well done. I was sad to lose my plant a few years ago. The flower is stupendous. I think you are probably doing the right thing by having it in a porous terracotta pot. Good luck with it.

I'd like to think that I'm great at identifying Gymnos - but I am not! Just happened to hover my cursor over the photo to reveal it is G. mesopotamicum, in case anyone else wonders.

Obviously a good dispersal mechanism. It must have mistaken you for a vicuna - what colour is your jumper?

In a normal "physical show' prizes are awarded to an exhibitor who shows a well presented plant that is deemed to be of exceptional quality for its type, relative to other entrants. However, the plant's qualities may, or may not, be mostly to do with the exhibitor, who may or may not not have b...