I visited Wisley gardens today and they had some lovely pots of Echeverias on display I suspect it's partly to encourage people to use plants that are tolerant of dry conditions. They looked happy, although there had obviously been one casualty.

Definitely very strange. I've never seen this happen either, I wonder why

Good to see Diane, I've had a few late cactus flowers this year, always a nice surprise.

Interesting Eric, I also have an old plant of C. krainziana in a 12" bowl, here it is a few years ago It seems to have smaller heads than yours, but also has never flowered.

The late Terry Smale used to use a hair for pollination, as many of us once saw on Gardeners' World. I have been the servant of a good number of cats and certainly wouldn't recommend trying to get a whisker from one! However, they do lose whiskers occasionally, so that's a possibility. Good luck!

Two lovely plants, beautiful markings on the friedrichii

Very interesting Nick, incidentally did you damage any plants with your submersing regime? I've killed things in the past when trying to eradicate mealies. I believe you have relocated to Shetland, so wonder if the different, and presumably colder, climate might be a factor. Whatever the reason, lon...

This is very sad news indeed, and a tremendous loss to the hobby. As Diane says, his books are full of reliable information, all presented in a way that is easy to read and with plenty of humorous anecdotes. I've known John for many years as he regularly attended our branch meetings and gave fascina...

Lovely plants Eric

Very interesting Stuart. I love my plants, but no way would I spend that sort of sum, or anything like it, on something that I might manage to kill in the next few months!