Vancouver Desert Plant Society Show & Sale at VanDussen

Today was quite the day!  I met up with my uncle at the Vancouver Desert Plant Society Show & Sale at VanDussen Gardens.  I saw a tonne of really interesting plants and ended up touring the Gardens as well.  I also got pictures of some other community gardens along an abandoned track in the Kitsilano area.

Finally I spent three hours at Cottonwood Community gardens helping with raised beds.  A portion of the gardens has been designed with wheel chair access in mind.  The beds are elevated to the proper height, there is room to turn around and a small rock layer will be placed so the wheels don't sink down.

The plant show was awesome and I ended up with a plant that my uncle purchased for me.  I'm quite excited.  The gardens at VanDussen were gorgeous and really worth a look.  All my veggies but my tomatoes have also started sprouting!  I can already taste them.

My day is best summed up with pictures.  Please check the album link at the end of these few to see them all.  There are some really interesting succulents!



To See the Rest of My Amazing Pictures Click Here! Here are some other people's photos of VanDussen and the Desert Plant Show:The Dandelion Wrangler Garden Therapy 

Finished University!

Last day was my final exam now and now I'm done university.  It's not official yet because none of my marks have been released, but barring doing something completely wrong and not realizing it, I'm finally finished.  I have been attending school for 18 years!  Junior kindergarten (1 year), kindergarten (1 year), elementary school (8 years), high school (4 years), and finally university (4 years).  It's almost unbelievable how lucky I was to be born in a country where this extensive education is not only available but common.  That being said I'm glad to be done!

We've found a rental place for the summer in Vancouver.  Nothing is formalized yet, but it's available on May 1st.  The price is really good and includes laundry, internet, cable, and energy.  It's located about 5km from downtown.  We probably won't go for May first but if we can get everything sorted out we could leave within less than a week.  We'll drive our way across the country.  I think I'll post every day when we stop in major cities and hopefully have access to internet (coffee shops).  Yeah!!  I'll have to figure this out and give more details later.

No job yet but we have enough money saved up to live off of for several months.  I'll probably find some part-time job while a search for a full-time position.  I heard from many people that they couldn't get interviews and as soon as they had a local address they had interviews within a week.  It's understandable as saying that you will relocate does not necessarily mean it will happen.  It's risky to invest so much time and money for an interview if the candidate won't end up moving.

Below may be the last set of UWO Greenhouse photos ever.  I'll be back Monday to drop off some plants and take some others.  It's suppose to rain but I might take some pictures anyway!  The Hippeastrum look awesome.  If anyone wants pictures of some specific plant just let me know!

Don't worry, there will be lots of more pictures in the future.  Vancouver is a beautiful city with a tonne of gardens and several large greenhouses.  Yeah!!

Amazing Succulent & Cacti Photos

I just spent over an hour going through this link.  It has hundreds of photos of succulents and cacti - many of which are in bloom.  I've never really appreciated their amazing flowers until now.  The colours really are stunning. I thought I would share it for anyone else that is interested in these types of plants or just wants to see some nice flowers.  There are also some interested pictures of minerals towards the end.  Hope you enjoy!  I should be back in the greenhouses this Friday with some more pictures.  I'll also have some seeds arriving over the next few weeks!

Epiphyllum Bloom

Another one of our Epiphyllum began blooming this week. It's beautiful, but not as nice as this bright pink one from several weeks ago. The flowers don't seem to open completely until there is full sun.

Queen of the Night (Selenicereus grandiflorus)

This is definitely one of the oddest plants we have in the UWO Greenhouses. Selenicereus grandiflorus (Queen of the Night) is native to the Caribbean, Central America and portions of South America. It is easy to care for and very fast growing. It needs lots of light and water as well as very rich soil.

When I first started working in the greenhouse I noticed many wilted flowers. I assumed it flowered regularly and was waiting for a good picture opportunity. When I found out it only bloomed at night I realized I'd never get a picture of the flowers. Then I found out that not only does it just bloom at night, but only for one night a year in early spring or summer. These flowers are gigantic and usually at least 35cm across.

That being said, the plant itself is still very interesting and definitely deserved a mention.

By the way, those orchids from the last post smell like milk chocolate! It's amazing. The scent completely fills the tropical room! There's another variety about to flower that supposedly smells like vanilla.

Unlabelled Cacti (and Euphorbia)

We have cacti in several different locations around the greenhouses. They are labeled in every location except one - the area with the most interesting varieties. I think most of these are the cheap store hybrid types that you can find in places like Walmart. Although I like cacti they don't tend to get along well with me. If I pass no closer than 10 metres to a cactus, I still end up with needles in my hands and/or forearms. Well I decided to brave the spines and here are some of the most interesting (No injuries! I guess they just wanted to be famous).

Edit: mr_subjunctive has identified several of these plants below in the comments section. Thanks for the help!