Hey Vlad,

Early Santa brought us a few cool opuntias from the Cold Hardy Cactus collection:

Left to right:
Opuntia 'Dark Knight'
Opuntia fragilis (debreczyi) v. denuda (Spineless Cat's Paw Cactus)
Opuntia whipplei 'Snow Leopard' (Silver Cholla)

The last one appears to be clearly more striking than the species, present at JCRA in Sc7.

We are putting your name at No.1 on the waiting list for future cuttings, so if you are ever tempted to order, get some other varieties.

Here's one more very impressive outdoor succulent garden in Austria with many great Agaves.

Wonderful! that is great! I have some Opuntia baby Rita that I want to give you and my cylindropuntias are actually putting up a nice show so I am ready to gift those. I thins I have about 3-4 varieties, about 3 collections and 1 that I bought. Very hardy, no blooms yet so they are core structural at the time but as I said, I was very impressed how nice they went for the last few years. I even have one cylindropuntia that is in a pot - it was a section probably ... 1/2 inch long if that - and it is doing well and it is different than the ones I have in the yard (now I am pleased to say :-) since it is bigger and I can tell) that I think I am going to try in the yard next spring.

I am excited about your buys! Love the Opuntia Fragilis. I always lusted about the ones that Tony and the arboretum has - I think I was lusting about some opuntia clavatas species there.

See you and Merry Christmas

Vlad

Les, I'll be interested to hear how Dark Knight does for you. I've wanted a purple opuntia ever since I saw the violaceas in Arizona and was disappointed to find that we were too wet in NC to bring out the purple color in that species.

Merry Christmas to you and Christine, too.

Karen__w, we'll keep you posted. The plan is to grow up these opuntias first in containers for the indoor collection, where their unique appearance can be admired from up-close and then to plant out the offspring in a raised rock bed.

This reminds us: we are expanding our succulent beds and are looking for larger amounts of rock filler (a couple of pickup truck loads). The bulk of their foundations is made from construction or landscaping waste, such as broken concrete chunks, bricks, rocks, or large size gravel. So if anyone is aware of suitable rock waste in their neighborhood about to be disposed, please let us know and we'll pick it up.

Something to cheer a rainy day.

Dam' Karen. Those are in-credible! We have pretty much all the phalenopsises in spike, one in bloom, a miltonia with one bloom and a beautiful oncidium.

I realized this evening that I put my most fragrant (in the evenings) orchid, Brassavola nodosa in the last photo, right next to the stinkiest one, Bulbophyllum echinolabium. How dumb was that!

I thought that was a bulbophyllum. We have a few strapelias that when they bloom they stink really bad but they are sooooo pretty.

That bulbophyllum is gorgeous!!!!!! How difficult are they to bloom? I see you have a greenhouse... I need a greenhouse... where to put it... :O

Those have been pretty easy. Here's B lilacinum

And Bulbophyllum 'Elizabeth Ann Buckleberry' (or Buckley, can't remember at the moment)

That last one is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are all of them blooming right now? Is this the season for them? I don't really know anything about orchids... planted in peatmoss and watered with distilled like nepenthes?

Jaime, of the bulbophyllums, only echinolabum is in bloom right now. The rest finished earlier in the fall. The cattleyas are going great guns, though, and my jewel orchid (Ludisia discolor) has three dozen bloom spikes. I'll try to post a photo when they open.

Different orchids like somewhat different growing conditions and I'm still on my learning curve there. My dad gave me all my bulbophyllums and potted most of them in shallow wood slat baskets with a mix of sphagnum moss and styrofoam peanuts. One is in a tree fern pot, but I'm not sure why. I use our regular tap water on pretty much everything, which is from a community well system and is relatively hard. My dad says that since he moved here, his orchids have liked the additional calcium for root growth, but if I ever take another stab at carnivorous plants, I'd use rain water that we collect off the shed roof.

I knew nothing about orchids a few years ago, but have been learning a lot. Some the hard way, but like anything else, you just need to learn what they want. Before I got my greenhouse, I would keep the Ludisia outside from late spring through fall, and in the house during cold weather, and it was perfectly happy.

What sort of carnivorous plants do you have Karen?

I have about 8ish native pitcher plants that stay outside all year and I have 2 tropical pitcher plants that go in in the winter, now they are in with the orchids in the bathroom. Your orchids look incredible. I need to post a few pictures of mine and the progress of the agave spike.

I've got two Nepenthes in the greenhouse, but that's it. I'd love to make a bog garden outside for sarracenias, drosera, etc. It's on the to do list.

Karen__w, a question about your Anomatheca laxa and Cypella coelestis seeds. About a dozen of each were put into bagged paper towels on Oct 3 and kept at room temperature, fluctuating between 60-70 F. So far only one Cypella seed germinated (on Nov 6). Under the same conditions, we got 100% instant germination of Iris domestica. Is there any way to prod them to germinate more? They are not molding so it doesn't seem to be an issue of viability, rather of suboptimal conditions. Maybe they need stratification?

I started both Cypella coelestis and Cypella herbertii outdoors in a perlite heavy mix with grit or permatill thinly over the top of the seeds. They're both slow germinators for me, took about 2 1/2 to 3 months before any signs of germination, but good results after that point. Since they were outside from the time I sowed them in early September, temperatures were ambient until I brought them into the greenhouse at the end of November and they had already germinated at that point. So my temps were slightly cooler, but they may just need a little more time.

Karen, what Nepenther do you have? I think I have Alta and Ventricosa and I have cuttings that are doing well also so if you want some you can have one of each.

Vlad

Vlad, mine came from Home Depot and didn't have labels besides the generic 'house plant' one so they could be species or hybrids. I do know that one is a male and one a female, and one year they bloomed at the same time and made seeds. Unfortunately, I didn't get my act together in time to try to germinate them. I had a very small N. ramispina once but lost it, I think to slugs that ate it before it was big enough to defend itself.

Present to myself this year:

kare, very nice lady slipper orchid! we got 2 blooms on ours but unfortunately i rotted them out before they bloomed. i am sure you know they only bloom on new plantlets.

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVERYONE!

I hope everyone had a great set of holidays :3

I've got some more questions for ya'll!

Firsties, my poor little prickly pear isn't doing so well. His base is getting yellow and rotting, I was wondering if I could chop off the 2 good leaves and stick in soil again to salvage them before they rot? Should I let them air dry a few days to form a scab before planting?

I have a huge infestation of everything nasty (spider mites, aphids, swear I saw some scale and some fuzzy stuff that I'm hoping isn't powdery mildew...) I've been treating them every few days with a spray of some spinosad and neem oil (first 3 applications were spinosad and it devastated the mite population, but going to keep up a few weeks to ensure they're dead, then switched to neem after saw some other stuff this last round and thinking of alternating the two every 2 days). I got this awesome spray applicator so its really fun! But anyways, anything else recommended for that? I just hope they can survive until spring where I can at least separate them from each other.

My poor banana also doesn't seem to be so happy...

He sits at a south facing window with no trees blocking light inside, so think he gets enough light. I noticed the discoloration ( http://imgur.com/a/5JVU3 ) about a month ago. I gave it some fertilizer and some slow release jobes fertilizer sticks as well as a few epsom salts incase it was magnesium. Since that time I found the spider mite infestation and have been spraying him religiously. A combination of those is the cause of the old brown leaves, and the new ones aren't nearly as discolored as they were a month ago, but still light and patchy... anything else I should do for him?

What plant schedules do you guys go for? I found various sources online and their planting dates can vary dramatically. For instance:

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/central-north-carolina-planting-calendar-for-annual-vegetables-fruits-and-herbs

vs

http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/NC/Raleigh

Do you guys have a preferred one? Or better yet, one that's on google calendar I could download to phone? :O

I got a little carried away browsing some seed sites... (That was one accidental overindulgence episode. I've had 3 more since. Thankfully to a much smaller scale...)

So I'm getting a little winter stir crazy waiting to plant them!!!!!!!

Cleaned out my garage and built a little growing shelf. I'm considering getting a second set of shelves and more lights for that. I was worried my unheated garage wouldn't be able to handle the cold days, but have had a thermometer in there last weekend when it was coldest weekend in last 11 years (at least by my house, turns out a kind neighbor has a personal weather station 2 roads away up for 11 years, so I downloaded all the data and never dropped below 11.7 degrees until last weekend where it was 9.7 degrees... ) and it did great! The lights on kept the temperature around 75, which is perfect. All I need now is a humidifier since it seems to be around 25-35% humidity.... and more grow lights because lets be honest, I want to grow far more than will fit there.

...I couldn't help myself. There are going to be some unruly giant tomatos before spring comes around. The artichokes/cardoons said they need 2-3 months beforehand... so I hadda start planting... but then couldn't not plant some others >"<

What do you guys do while waiting for spring?! I'm going crazy and it's still only December! .___.

I need to figure out logistics of a greenhouse. Any recommendations concerning them?

Jaimie: DAM'!!!!!!

I thought I am going over board!!!!

OK... first the opuntia. Yes, get those 2 good pads and stick them outside. Opuntias do horrible in pots ... at least mine do. When I got the spineless from Tony I had it inside as you did super babying it out and the pads dropped when the cat passed by. The opuntias are made for growing hard. Don't plant them!!!!! Put the pad outside with a brick/rock on it on the top of the soil. It will take about 1-2 years to get it going (just a few pads a year) and then it will go bonkers. You are always welcome to stop by and pick you some more pads. Every winter I throw about 1 full size 50 gal trash can full if not more.

For the bugs ... that's not cool. I am not good with bugs. I know systemic stuff work the best.

The banana ... are you sure that's a banana? Are you sure it is not a type of heliconia? I think bananas are growing a trunk first and then leaves but yours has leaves very close to the base.

Great job with the garage and the grow tent ... If your garage stays at 75 you are using WAY too much energy. I am guessing you are saying that your grow tents are staying at 75. That's pretty cool. You can even grow seedlings in there.

Winter stir crazy ... Winter is hard. Clean the yard, put hardscape in, get a partner, travel to see botanical gardens, go see the greenhouses at the orchid trail (awesome place pretty close to the airport if you have not been). ... Volunteer work in Karen's greenhouse (hell, I considered doing that :-) ), paint inside, make a written plan of the yard, put better drainage, work on making raised beds ... I can go all day :-)

Greenhouse. ... A greenhouse is expensive. Definitely we need to talk to Karen about financials but I can tell you that Christine bought me a harborfreight 6 x 8 greenhouse (very cheap) but to maintain it ... For instance, just through the cold we had, my power bill was $30 higher than usual. I have it insulated with bubble wrap, I have a heating circulator that sucks air from the top and pushes it through the gravel at the base of the greenhouse and a 50 gal black drum... But when you don't have sun, the heater will go on.

Soooo, ... there is hope for you Jaimie. Keep the passion going that is a great thing. Again, you are welcome to come get some opuntias and the big agaves are starting to need a serious de-pupping again.

Vlad

Oh ... and Happy New Year to everybody. I am ready to clean the yard also!

Vlad,

I'm pretty sure he's a banana. He was marked as a Red Abyssinian Banana (Ensete maurelii) http://www.excelsagardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Ensete-maurelii-Red-Abyssinian-Banana-1.jpg Here are some others with similar growth. I believe bananas all have a pseudo-stem and don't actually have a trunk/stem but just the previous growth forming what looks like one, unlike trees and stuff. But... even if it was a heliconia, the leaves are what I love and the potential for flowers on both is so worth it! I have a hardy heliconia outside that I hope comes back! :D

So should I do anything to the pad, cut the side that's facedown or anything, or just snip off plant and plop outside and throw a rock on it? Also.. 50 gallons of pads?! No wonder you had a huge box of pads and agave pups at the swap! That's insane! Why do you trim them all, because they look unruly, or do they need it? Also, is it only the fresh growth that has the invisible spines, or do the older ones have them too? *scared to touch it after last time*

Just the grow tent :) The garage is staying pretty warm (about 48 degrees after a few days of 20s outside) because the insulation on 2 walls must be thin and house heats it up, so definitely losing energy there. But I've been measuring inside the tent itself. The lights have a cooling thing built in but still has exhaust air and gets trapped in the tent, so it's been keeping it nice and warm.

Thanks for the offer btw, I definitely will take you up on that later. I love the agaves and pricklies :3

I... on the other hand am not ready to clean the yard. That feels like the "work" part of gardening and not the collecting and staring at growth fun parts! (I do still need to move the mulch pile from the road out of sight... mmm.... later!)

Jaimie,

One of the problems with your banana may be that it is standing right next to a heating vent. We had a similar issue with Musella lasiocarpa that showed rapid browning and drying on the edges of lower leaves that immediately stopped when it was moved farther away from a vent. As you know, the dry air of the house is a major challenge for many plants from humid environments and this effect is amplified when a stream of even warmer air blows directly on the plant.

A second, compounding issue may be water - do you use rain or tap water to water your house plants? It takes more water to feed the increased transpiration of large-leaved tropicals and the salts from tap water may accumulate to harmful levels.

On the other hand, if your opuntia is showing some rot, it would indicate overwatering and/or the soil not being porous enough. Larger succulents should be barely watered in winter, maybe once per month, unless they are showing active growth.

Jaimie. Les is right, don't even touch the opuntias with water during the winter. And be afraid to touch all the opuntias all the time every time :-). Don't even believe the "oh, this is the spineless variety" stuff. The most pretty fuzzy ones (microdasy for example) would screw up your day! I trim the opuntias because they are taking over and I want to keep them contained ... See the ginormous patch that the arboretum has if you don't trim. About the pads ... don't cut anything (that's the point) just cut twist it up the plant and stick it outside ... Thinking about it ... I don't know, maybe you should do that in the spring or come get more pads that have been hardied outside.

Vlad

I agree with Les that the banana is probably missing the humidity being indoors in winter. Pre-greenhouse, I used to do better keeping things over in the garage with a few grow lights compared to in the house where the air was drier. I would just let everything go dormant and give them a little rescue water once or twice a month at most.

As for greenhouses, I love mine, but it's not an inexpensive one when you take into account all the utilities. Fortunately my husband has construction skills so we saved a lot on that end. The logistics will really depend on what you want/need it for.

Besides playing in the greenhouse, I garden outdoors all winter. I planted a dozen hellebores a week before that last winter storm. The ground is still warm enough and they were making root growth and I wanted to take advantage of that. This is a great time to plant trees and shrubs, too. And I'm trying to plant any seeds I forgot about that need a few months of cold outdoors before germinating in spring. I saw my first crocus last week, daffodils are in bud, and hellebores are starting to open, so there's all kinds of stuff to enjoy.

Doi!!!! I never thought about the vent! I'll move him a bit away and see how that is! I was wondering if it was to dry buy the house had been pretty nicely maintained ( ~60% or so). But if it's on then vent then yes! Things would be different!

I also wondered if it was the chlorine in the tap water so was letting a pitcher sit out a few days to evaporate the chlorine. But still have been using tap water and not distilled or runoff....

I do agree I was overwatering the prickly pear and agaves in the beginning, but slowedd that down dramatically after last post in November.... still too late for Mr. Prickles though it seems. (And I might have been blanking out and still watering him)

You overwintered a musella lasiocarpa inside? How'd it do? I have one and planet outside with a thick layer of mulch. Hoping he survives the winter. Yours ever bloom? They look gorgeous in the pictures!

Ahhh there were more comments since I started replying! (So frustrating on phone)

Yes in scared of those hidden fuzz monsters! I'll make sure to be careful. Do you ever eat the fruit?

For the green house, definitely need to do a lot of work but my Dad is also in construction Business and always looking for projects. (He's already planning on coming down here with his truck so he can run a gas line to stove and water line to fridge for the future when I miiiight need an new appliance! And he wants to make a new door to the outside to circumvent a different room. He's got way to much project energy in him. I'd much rather have him work on a fun greenhouse than unnecessary preemptive routings. )

From the pictures I saw if yours is an impressive greenhouse! Do you keep it really hot all year for the orchids?

I have some bulbs coming up... that I honestly can't remember what of, but thought it was way too soon to be coming up, but your crocuses and daffodils are getting ready? No way! I actually don't have either of those yet, but wow! I'll look to see if there are any trees/shrubs I need. I was thinking of getting some pawpaws from Stark Bros and they ship it in mid February here. You guys know if any other sources for paw paws? (Local would be awesome but haven't found them yet)

This is a good time of year to plan a greenhouse. The first step is to decide how you want to use it and from there you can figure out what specs you need. For example, I wanted to use mine year round and also at night, and I wanted space in there for propagation that was protected from squirrels (unfortunately not protected from slugs!). I've gotten more into orchids since I got it, so I have increased my minimum temps a bit, up to around 60 degrees. In the summer it's cooled with evaporative cooling to keep it from getting hotter than it is outdoors. Otherwise it would get way too hot for plants to survive. So what would you want to do in your greenhouse?

also, I agree that a visit to the orchid trail is good for the soul.

Musella lasiocarpa is performing the best as a houseplant among a number of tropical perennials we tested so far. Unlike Colocasia gigantea and C. 'Black Magic' that were always in the state of steady decline, Musella is showing rapid and consistent net growth with only limited senescence of older leaves. Here is its picture from today:

This plant is being scaled up from a pup for eventual planting outside - as a replacement for a dead clump. There are two large unprotected clumps at JCRA, so they should survive here. Our problem is that many of our sun beds are still near trees and root competition makes it harder for marginal plants to survive cold.

Les, did your Cypella seeds ever germinate? I just planted the Hibiscus coccineus 'Alba' you gave me about a week ago, with major finger crossing. I had decided to soak the seed overnight and of course some work thing subsequently distracted, so when I remembered a week later they were kind of smelly in a bad way. I rinsed and planted anyway and now I've got seedlings, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Jaime, there is so much going on outdoors right now. If you plan for it, you can have something blooming all winter in addition to foliage and structural interest. I haven't seen my outdoors in daylight for about a week so I just took a walk in the rainy twilight. In bloom are crocuses, daffodils, several kinds of hellebores (x orientalis, foetidus, sternii), winter iris, and Lonicera fragrantissima (aka 'sweet breath of spring'). This is also the best time of year for appreciating the contorted hazelnut. I love the January garden!

Lester, you are a genius! I blocked that vent (box fortress is to stop dog from pushing off the vent redirect thingy). Look how happy my banana is now!!!!

To help our trading partners prepare suitable trades, we can already pre-announce that a few of our more abundant propagations will be available at the Spring Swap:

Not hardy patio/house plants

Agave desmettiana, caymanensis, 'Kissho Kan' - established small offsets
Aloe, unknown tree species - rooted cuttings
Cestrum nocturnum - fragrant night jasmine, marginal in the garden with some protection
Citrus 'Valencia' - dwarf orange, from own seeds (comes true due to nucellar embryony)
Jasminum sambac 'Belle of India' - fragrant tropical jasmine
Kalanchoe luciae - flapjack, paddle plant
Tradescantia zebrina - marginal in the garden with some protection

Hardy garden plants

Crinum bulbispermum - South African crinum lily
Hedychium coronarium - white ginger lily
Ilex cornuta 'Burford' - 1 ft shrub, evergreen for tall hedges
Lantana camara 'Miss Huff'
Ligustrum sinense 'Variegatum' - 1 ft shrub, semi-evergreen
Lonicera sempervirens - honeysuckle vine
Oenanthe javanica 'Flamingo' - water celery, bog ground cover
Punica granatum - wild pomegranate, rooted cuttings, good in containers as well, can overwinter in garage

Seeds of particularly interesting plants

Capsicum annuum 'Black Pearl' - ornamental peppers, nearly black leaves (tender perennial)
Oryza sativa 'Black Madras' - ornamental rice, annual

In addition to the items on our Garden Web trade list, we will be looking with high priority for: evergreen ferns, black plants, trailing succulents.

Jaimie,
Good to hear that your banana is doing better.

Karen__w,
We have 4 more germinations of Cypella coelestis and the first one of Anomatheca laxa.

My banana is not only doing better but much better! He seems to be extremely happy now! He's got his 7th leaf coming out! (Ignore the boxes. They are critical to maintaining his happiness, I swear!)

So spring seems to have come absurdly early. I'm both really excited and enjoying this warmth and really really worried.

My peach is blooming 3 weeks earlier than last year. As well as my nectarines.

Ralph, remember I had a bunch of baby purple leafed peaches? Well I guess they're old enough to bloom too! Completely unexpected! The ones I potted up but didn't bring to plant swap (potted same time as plant swaps) didn't bloom so I guess they got too much shock from being transplanted, so whoever got them last time it probably won't this year, but next year seems likely!

But most worrisome of all... 3 of the 6 blueberries I have are in bud, and one of them has started blooming... I know there are various types that bloom at different times of the year but this seems absurd!

Of course after checking out weather for the week looks like we're going to get a frost! Obviously! I just hope I get SOME peaches... :(

Anyone know what this is? Its in a few spots of the garden so I think its a pack of bulbs I got and planted and forgot about... but they're anemones right? Just that most of the pictures I looked up have black insides not yellow.

In addition to all those... I see that my pink banana (musa velutina) is coming up. My black magic taro, midori taro, black and blue salvia, purple and black salvia, my crinium, all those irises I got from the swap, the canna lilies you gave me Ralph, my candy lily, and my toad lily (which ALSO seems to have spread some! there's a sprout about a foot away from the main body! WHICH IS AWESOME). I'm just worried that some of these are tender and shouldn't be arriving so quickly =___=; Like the taros and bananas...

But some like this quince is perfectly fine to bloom now. No fruit expected so go enjoy yourself lil quincey!

What sites do you guys use to check for frost? What's your assumed last frost date around here? Do you use the 50% value or wait longer?


As for the plant swap coming this spring... (when is it again?) I may have gotten a little excited with seeds:


Of the things I should have extras of to bring... some cardoons and artichokes (started in beginning of January so would be nice and ready for spring), some edible hibiscus (Roselles), cape gooseberries, naranjilla, and maybe some others... have 27 varieties of tomatoes which I need to separate the seedlings for and throw into other pots so we'll see how much space I have for spares :3

Ralph, the coleus you gave me at last swap is doing great btw!
I gave him a haircut and making some more cuttings of him... should have some cuttings from various salvias as well (although I'll be honest... I let too many of them sit in tray of water too long and got root rot :( whoops... added a bunch of pebbles/stones to them now so pots sit above the drained out water so hopefully the rest survive .___. )


Also, if there was anything anyone wanted from these seeds https://imgur.com/a/trPlW I can throw in a pot and start for you guys before the next swap :)

And Karen, you are right. There has been a lot going on outside, although to be fair right now its getting confused with all this warmth. I do need to get myself some more winter plants though! Like lenten roses.
And yes... the greenhouse... I'm debating going halfway and getting a quick cheap(ish) throwup structure to enjoy now and then later getting a fullblown one (...maybe I'll get a different house w/ more land... hahaha.) or just going all out now... I do kinda wanna do everything which tends to be warmer/humid environments but that could get really expensive in winter so still debating on what the focus should be... did you buy a prefabricated one or completely create it yourself? Any recommendations for which sites to look at pre-fab ones?

Hello Jaimie. Everything looks good! Our stuff is coming out like crazy too. Indeed scary because if we hit a frost then it is done. Frost date ... I usually look it up (http://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates/NC/Raleigh). The greenhouse talk ... here is what I can tell you. Christine got me a cheap Harborfreight 6x8 greenhouse and this is the first year I passed it through the winter with plants in it. I have a mishmash of stuff in there. Cacti, irises, fatsias, more cacti seedlings. Well, I am super happy to say that a lot of my cacti that have never bloomed are in bud and it looks wonderful in there. Maintenance wise it was OK, a little bit of money (roughly +$30 on the power bill) on the cold month when I had to run the heater but for the rest of the time the thermal mass I put in there did its job. I usually get a +6 to +9 degrees versus the outside during the night if I had sun the day before. Come see it some time. I actually thought about inviting you guys all when the garden start to sprout we could do a garden tour and put your names on stuff you want then I can do cuttings.

Jaimie,

Your light purple flower looks like Anemone blanda. (We would be interested to trade for it, if you have enough material for the swap).

The most reliable last frost/first resources are from NCSU:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/average-last-spring-frost-dates-for-selected-north-carolina-locations
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/average-first-fall-frost-dates-for-selected-north-carolina-locations

The dates are assumed to be normally distributed, if you know statistics. If not, a number of sites calculate more interval values, for instance:
http://www.climate-charts.com/USA-Stations/NC/NC317069.php#data

There is even an interactive map for NC:
http://www.plantmaps.com/interactive-north-carolina-first-frost-date-map.php

Jaimie, we bought our greenhouse from Jaderloon, a South Carolina company that makes commercial greenhouses. They helped us draw up our specs and my husband built it according to their instructions with all the components we bought from them. It worked well for us because I had saved up for it for a while, have lots of room in the yard for a large structure, wanted to use it year round, and don't ever plan on moving again so was willing to make an investment. I have friends who've got greenhouses like Vlad's, for winter use, and have been very happy with them. It really depends on how you plan to use it.

Vlad, I would love to come tour your garden and put my name on some things!

We just got a free load of broken concrete delivered for expanding our raised succulent beds and the individual who provided it has another load, if anyone is interested, see: concrete fill (carrboro)

More than doubled the first, existing bed (with a small, seed-raised Agave ovatifolia planted out one year ago):

And added another one:

PermaTill cover layers still to be added. Both in sloped, sunny, S to SW facing locations.

There is still lots of room to expand so we need plenty of hardy succulents at the Swap.

More success germinating Anomatheca laxa seeds this fall. 5 out of 12 germinated in a plastic bag moved whimsically between refrigerator and room temperature. Compared to 1 out of 12 last year, it looks like delayed germination. The only seedling from last year looked dead in the summer, but a solid bulb (~ 1/3" size) remained and it started growing a leaf in October. Rather slow growing, it seems.

I'm glad you're having better germination this fall on those seeds. I'm lazy and just throw them on the ground so I don't really know what the germination rate is, but I've had some come up and bloom their first June after sowing in situ in fall. They do go summer dormant and then grow their foliage over the winter, so your corm is right on schedule. Hopefully it will bloom for you next year.

As a relevant commentary to our pictures of raised beds above, here's how Tony Avent is re-using concrete to expand his beds:
https://raleigh.craigslist.org/zip/d/free-place-to-dump-excavated/6394290516.html

Hopefully he's not going to suck out all broken concrete from the local market as we are always looking for more concrete for our own continuous bed expansion.

Anomatheca laxa, overwintering in our plant room (about 2 ft tall), starts blooming: