I remember visiting Sargants on the Isle of Wight, the nursery was by the side of a cliff and the greenhouses built on ridges that had to be reached by ladder. Plants had to be held in one hand whilst the other hand held on to the ladder.

Stuart

There's nothing wrong with beginners books, ironically, John's 'Happy Cactus' book was, he told me, his best selling book having been translated into various languages and it's the ideal 'entry' to our hobby. It's just that the Lamb's books had attractive dust-jackets but were a let down with poor c...

The Lamb's books were never much use, I'd put them out for recycling. If John Pilbeam's books were at one end of a scale, the Lambs books would be at the other. I think cactus books should be treated the same as ladies should treat clothes, if not used for a couple of years, they're not needed and c...

A cactus nursery I regularly visit has been on the market for many years, last time I looked it was valued around $8 million, the owners deserve to be able to retire and have a property in Hawaii waiting. It makes Ralph's nursery seem quite good value. It now looks like it's been split into two and ...

It grows much better if you call it an Aloe. There was one at a show in the US with a label saying 'The plant formerly known as Aloe', at lease the name wasn't changed to a symbol. If we keep quiet about Kumara, Haworthiopsis, Tulista and other trendy names then they might go away. I agree that a fe...

My description does say it grows to about 25cms, I flowered one back in the days when I used BEF pots, it was in a 7in pot but probably flowered due to being stressed and needing repotting. When I had one planted out in free root room it grew larger but didn't flower. They make nice sales plants as ...

Agricultural land is around 10K per acre so the other 280K must be for the greenhouse, caravans and the goodwill cost. I think if I was starting out as a nursery it might be better to buy a couple of acres and pay for new greenhouses. Bill Greenaway had a really good selection of cacti when he had a...

Here's Steve Hammer's 'Purple Lens', I thought the 'Lens' forms of Maughanii had to be lacking in any markings but might be wrong on that.

Stuart

Well that’s a sudden increase in popularity for Aloe Humilis.

Stuart

Cactus nurseries rely on the knowledge and skills of the nursery owners making it difficult to sell as a business. We can't really afford to lose any more nurseries. Southfields is still up and running though visiting hours are reduced during the winter months. Bryan has his usual tables at Spalding...