Hi Jodi!
I'm an off-on-off-on to the cactus forum. Have a thing for prickly things. :) I have a couple of friends that meet at one of the swaps every year and we swap our attack plants. Everyone else thinks we're nuts cause we get excited about spines.
You know what I grow.
Tally HO!

HI Jodi,
Welcome!
So glad to see you made it over here!!

It's a great place to be, you'll learn so much here!

JoJo

Thank you, Ladies! Tally, always a pleasure to see you... and JoJo, I'm hoping to learn a lot about succulents and "spiny things"!

Hi Jodi, this is great forum. I don't do Cacti(not a big fan of the thorns,lol)except the Christmas/Thanksgiving Cactus those I like a lot. I love Jades/Succulents and I have a couple of Adeniums. You've come to the right place to hang out. Lots of great knowledgeable people here that's willing to help. Welcome!

Hi Jodi, welcome to the forum! I too live in central Illinois, East Peoria. I have been around here so long yet "most" people in this forum are unaware of...LOL
I do not post but very rarely, but I do read each & every day. I never stop learning. I have some Adenium, cacti, succulents, a green house full this time of year. : )

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Anya, Peoria is not too awfully far away... I'm between Champaign and Decatur, although originally from north of Belvidere!

Spiny cacti aren't my favorites, but I do love some of the succulents!

Howdy, Jodi! Welcome aboard!

My favorite succulents are Crassula, and Crassula ovata varieties in particular.

I don't grow spiny cacti, but I do have one large Christmas Cactus and one small Euphorbia.

Josh

Hi Jodik...Have I met you before? :-)

I am so glad to see you here on the wild and prickly side..

I have a huge interest in Jade. In fact, it was this place that helped me to become even better at growing them, and "Norma" who cast a wonderful magic spell on my variegated one..

I was handed tons of succulents from friends recently. Some as gifts, some out of generousity, and some who didn't want theirs anymore, sort of like a succulent shelter..
I didn't even know how to spell "succlante" till I joined here..

You will learn so much, and I am so honored to be hanging out with you here too!

Oh yes, I also have a few "holiday" cactus, but working on getting a true "Christmass" one..Have you seen Josh's..WoW

As Josh, my favs are the Crassula and Jade!

Much exciting times to look forward to here as always, and have a merry everything!

P.s. It can get awfully hot around here..!

Mike;-)

Welcome jodik; I suppose I never did introduce myself to this forum, having only been around a few weeks. I'm no expert but getting much better at identifying cacti & succs. I have a garden with over 200 varieties in San Diego CA. See my trade list if you are interested in that sort of thing...

I'm so glad that you joined us. We are all here to help. I don't know if we have any professionals on board, but we all want to learn. Don't be afraid to ask a questions, I have a few I need to ask. Can a butterfly who lost half a wing, repair it's self. Tell us more about yourself, any other hobbies? Most of us have more than one, we were all collectors as children, stamps, tropical fish, stamps, thimbles? Most of us learned from Grandma. So you see we do have things in common. Norma

Hi and Welcome Jodi,
I've been around (on and off) since September 2001. I agree with Norma... I'm also not sure there are any "Experts" per se, but there are definitely some that really know what they're talking about ;-)
I haven't met a cactus I didn't like. The bigger or longer the spines, the more I like it!
I hope you discover more than just "Holiday" cactus to enjoy as there are many others that aren't so prickly... Epiphyllums for one. If you like the flowers on the "Holiday" cacti, you'll LOVE the ones from Epis'.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=epiphyllum&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

There's also some with nice soft spines that won't really harm you... My favorite has always been the "Dog Tail" Cactus (selenicereus testudo).

I also grow Orchids and Bonsais. If I had a large property and House still, I'd also grow Bamboo and raise Tropical Fish (probably salt)

So, Norma, do you think that's all true about how we all learned?
My Grandmother had every windowsill in the house covered in plants! But it was my Grandfather that bought me my first fishtank and my dad that fostered my interest in Tropical Fish.
But I was adopted and when I found my Biological Family a few years back, it seems My Maternal Grandfather was Also a collector and even had a Farm. My Paternal Side of the family was part Native American (Mohawk) and all had an affinity for Nature of all kinds, (especially edible and medicinal local plants, which I too was always interested in).
So, is it nurture or just Nature?
And no, a Butterfly can not repair it's wing and usually only lives a few days to weeks, just long enough to breed. The Monarch does Migrate to some place in Mexico I believe, to spend the winter. But I believe that's the second generation of the year that does. I believe when they return to their homelands in spring, their offspring will just live long enough to give birth to THAT years Migrators and then die, never getting the Mexican Vacation :-)

I am no cacti pro by no means but

Can a butterfly who lost half a wing, repair it's self.
No they can't replace any part of a broken wing. See also the butterfly garden forum. There nice folks in there and will help you alot on how to care for it there are a few key names in there they'll tell you how to get ready to raise some cats ( catapillers) They are totaly commited

Anyways just passing though good luck on your growing adventures all

Hi Jodi and welcome! You'll find lots of help here! Not to mention good conversation too! Everyone here is kind and will help with any questions you have. I only have a few cacti and succulents but hope to aquire more. This is a great place to learn, have fun planting! :)

Happy New Year!
Ashley

Opps it's hello to Jodi.. Semi sorry for that, but you got me to thinking. I noticed your in the tropics and entering into the desert. I also noticed you been to the pet suply store, perhaps you have a few other things laying around ?

{{gwi:736904}}

I have great doubt this applies to succulents but for prickly things from our red rock areas it's a pretty good guess. Maybe you read the rest.

Happy Growing Jodi do get bitten warning to pricklings.

Get small opuntia. Norma

Hi, Used to be on Gardenweb several years ago.Old computer went bad and I lost this site.I live in Central Fl.Have many different kinds of plants and love them all(even tho many have to be covered in winter)Glad to be back.

Paulzie, couldn't agree more, the longer and thicker the spines the more I like it. They kind of fit my personality LOL! We don't have room for much bamboo but my brothers yard is an empty slate. I'm already picking out bamboos for his backyard. Most of the bamboo in town survived the storm, Moody Gardens had a lot of varieties, they took a battering being under 14' of salt water for 2 days & only a very few died.

Norma, put the butterfly in some kind of enclosure with a lot of sticks for it to climb on and fresh flowers or nectar. They can live for awhile if safe from predators and can get food. Monarchs do winter in Mexico, they migrate through here every spring and fall. There used to be millions but the migration is much smaller now. Still impressive but it seems to be more scattered instead of one big flush. Like they are all departing at different times instead of all at once. They get their coloring from milkweed which also makes them toxic to birds. The butterfly weed is currently covered with cats. We can't keep it, they eat it as fast as it grows.

So, how much room do you have in your window sills? I'll send you some cuttings in the spring when you thawout.
Tally HO!

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! We arrived back home last night after having spent Christmas with our kids and grandkids... a wonderful mini-vacation!

I don't have very many items that would be listed as cacti or succulents... just a few little things.

Like this white flowered, and quite sad looking, Christmas Cactus...
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These are little cacti seedlings I grew from seed...
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Some winter hardy cacti from the western side of northern Illinois...
{{gwi:56640}}

And an orchid cacti from a cutting...

This one is a night blooming Cereus, I believe...
{{gwi:56637}}

Aside from a few more orchid cacti cuttings in baskets, that's all the cacti and succulents I currently have growing.

I do have tons of Hippeastrum bulbs, which actually seem to prefer to be treated like succulents. They like a grittier medium and less water than their tags indicate.

As it gets closer to spring, I'll be inquiring about Adeniums... I really want to try one! They have such beautiful flowers!

Thanks again for the friendly welcome! And now... to begin reading and learning! :-)