My Blog

So happy with our new Polytunnel & Spring is coming

Hi Cacti and Succulent Growers, I hope that everyone is having a wonderful start to 2024 so far, I had a wonderful end to 2023 by putting away and arranging all of my cacti and succulent plants into our wonderful new Polytunnel that we got at the end of October, and I have been busy planning ahead for all of the plant jobs I want to do for the growing season and I am really looking forward to the upcoming Spring, I am itching to start watering my Cacti, but its still only February and I have to be patient haha.

My partner Hans and I are so happy with our new polytunnel that we got from Polytunnelsni here in Northern Ireland, its 12 feet wide and 18 feet long, and its got a clear cover making it so much lighter inside than our previous polytunnel that had a green cover, it also passed the test last month in January when we had two very severe storms with up to 70mph strong gale force winds, the polytunnel never moved an inch and passed the strong storms with flying colours.

I am so looking forward to seeing how my cacti and succulents grow this spring and summer with the extra light inside this new polytunnel.

Here are some photos of the plants inside our new Polytunnel and I will keep you all updated how the plants grow and flower this year inside this new tunnel.

I had a wonderful time putting all the plants away and re arranging them all inside our new Polytunnel

Me in my absolute element putting all the plants away and re arranging them all in the polytunnel.

This new Polytunnel is a fantastic height 7ft high, making it so much better for all the cereus cacti.

My Plants really are really loving their new home.

The Polytunnel has Crop bars making it perfect for the hanging cactus and succulent plants.

I am so looking forward to seeing how the plants grow and flower this Spring and Summer with the extra light.

This Polytunnel is 2 feet wider than our previous one and its amazing how much more space there is inside.

Me on the day the polytunnel was put up, I was like a big kid haha, Wayne from Polytunnelsni and his assistant did an amazing job of putting up the polytunnel and we are very happy with it.

If you haven’t done already then please consider subscribing to my Cactus and Succulent You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon, I share lots of tips and tricks on how to care for your Cacti and Succulents.

We are through the other side of Winter now its February and that means YIPPPPPPEEEEE! yes Spring is soon coming haha.

Sending you all lots of love and PLANT POWER from the Emerald Isle.

Its Schlumbergera ‘Thanksgiving & Christmas Cactus’ Season

Hi Guys,

I hope you all had a wonderful Spring and Summer growing Season of 2023 and you had lots of fun looking after and growing your Cacti and Succulents this Summer, or maybe you are living in the southern hemisphere and its your Spring now and you have all of the growing season ahead of you.

I have been extremely busy this Fall /Autumn with our wonderful new Cactus and Succulent Polytunnel, but I will share a Blog post about our new Polytunnel when all the plants have been put away in there, but for now I want to share with you a few photos of my Schlumbergera truncata cacti commonly known as the Thanksgiving or the Christmas Cacti that are blooming so beautiful right now, its always such a pleasure to see the blooms on these Schlumbergera at this time of year when all of the desert cacti are resting.

My Schlumbergera truncata ‘bright pink flowering’

I am amazed at how much earlier this year my Schlumbergera have come into bloom, last year it was a late start for them and I had many of my Schlumbergera only coming into bloom in January and February, I have noticed a few other growers saying the same too.

I always love to cross pollinate the flowers on Schlumbergera to make my own Hybrids and I have had great success with getting seed this way, although its much faster to propagate these plants from their clades ( leaves ) its so much fun to grow them from seed and always exciting to see what flower colour your cross pollinations will turn out to be, I have grown many from seed and they start to bloom from about 4-5 years when grown from seed.

Cross pollinating the flowers of my pink and orange flowering Schlumbergera.

Check out the video I have made for my You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon of my Schlumbergera Cactus Seedlings that I have grown from seed from my cross pollinations and you can watch this video below:

If you want to know how to cross pollinate Schlumbergera flowers to get seed then check out the video I have made for my You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How to Cross Pollinate Schlumbergera flowers and you can watch this video below:

Schlumbergera put a lot of their energy into producing flowers, and once they have finished flowering its not unusual for Schlumbergera to wilt and look a bit limp, this is normal as the cactus goes into a bit of a rest period straight after flowering and this is when watering should be reduced, after my Schlumbergera have flowered I cut right back on watering them and let the soil in their pots dry out that little bit longer before watering them again, once Spring arrives and they start to grow new clades ( leaves ) I water more regularly and water them every time the top surface of the soil has dried out, never overwater your Schlumbergera as even during the Spring and Summer they like their soil to dry out slightly in between watering, and although they can survive weeks without water they don’t like to go weeks and months without water like the desert cacti can.

Check out the video I have made for my You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on Why your Schlumbergera cactus goes limp after Flowering, and you can watch this video below:

Here are some photos of my Schlumbergera that are blooming beautiful this month ( November 2023 )

My Schlumbergera truncata ‘Gold Charm’

My Schlumbergera tendenza ‘Orange Brazil’

Schlumbergera Enigma Thor Wild

My Schlumbergera ‘Enigma’ Thor Wild.

My Schlumbergera truncata ‘Yellow flowering’

My Schlumbergera truncata ‘red flowering’ this Schlumbergera is at least 70 years old.

My Schlumbergera truncata ‘pink and white two tone’

My Schlumbergera truncata ‘White Flowering’

If you want to know How to Care for and Grow Schlumbergera then do watch the video I have made for my You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon below:

Wishing everyone a wonderful upcoming Winter and a blooming amazing plant powered Holiday season ahead.

Aporocactus flagelliformis

Its been a Blooming Lovely Cactus Season so far

Hi Cactus and Succulent growers,

I hope that you are all having a wonderful growing season so far and enjoying this wonderful time of year, I have been keeping super busy with all the wonderful plant jobs to do at this time of year, re potting, keeping on top of watering and feeding and checking regularly for signs of pests,

We had a very slow start to Spring in Ireland and U.K this year with way below average temperatures for March and April and even May, but thankfully from June the warmer temperatures and the sunshine arrived, and with the much needed sun and warmth it has really given my cacti and succulents a blooming good boost.

Pilocereus pachycladus
My Pilocereus pachycladus ‘Blue Torch Cactus’ blooming amazing this year.

I have seen more buds and blooms this Spring and Summer alreadyon many of my cacti and also some buds on my cacti that hadn’t flowered for me for the past few years, I have quite a few of my Trichocereus cacti that are coming into bud again for the first time in 5 years and also my very old Opuntia aciculata cactus has come into bud for the first time again in TWENTY years YAY.

Opuntia aciculata, Chenille prickly pear Cactus
My Opuntia aciculata, Chenille prickly pear Cactus coming into bud again for the first time after TWENTY years.

Last Summer we had a very hot and dry Summer in Ireland and U.K and Europe with heatwaves, and then that was followed by an extra cold and long Winter, I think the combination of the heatwaves last Summer and the extra cold winter may have given the kick start for the Trichocereus to come into bud again, but whatever the reason I am a happy Cactus Lady to see buds and many blooms already this growing season.

Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri, Schlumbergera gaertneri, Hatiora gaertneri
My Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri ‘Easter Cactus’ blooming gorgeous, this cactus was a cutting I got from a friend a few years ago, my friend had taken this cutting from her late Grandmothers very old Easter Cactus.

If you want to know how to get your Cacti and Succulents to Flower then do watch the video I have made for my Cactus & Succulent You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How To Get your Cacti & Succulents to Flower, you can watch this video below:

If you want to know what are the Top 10 best Flowering Cactus Plants to grow then do watch the video I have made for my Cactus & Succulent You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on The Top 10 BEST Flowering Cactus Plants to grow, you can watch this video below:

Not all cacti only flower in Spring and Summer, they are many varieties of Cactus that also flower in Winter too, and if you want to have Cactus flowers all year round, then do watch the video I have made for my Cactus & Succulent You Tube Channel called Desert Plants of Avalon on How To Get your Cacti To Flower ALL Year Round, you can watch this video below:

Here are some photos of some of my blooming lovely cacti that have flowered this Season already, I hope you enjoy their beauty, and for lots of blooming lovely videos of my Cacti and Succulents as well as lots of care tips on growing these awesome plants then do please Subscribe to my You Tube Channel Desert Plants of Avalon.

Aporocactus flagelliformis
My Aporocactus flagelliformis ‘Rats Tail Cactus’ in shocking pink beautiful bloom this Spring 2023.
Mammillaria hahniana, Old Lady Cactus
Mammillaria hahniana, Old Lady Cactus in beautiful flower, Spring 2023.
Epiphyllum Madeline
My Epiphyllum Madeline blooming for the very first time for me with a stunning lemon yellow flower.
Gymnocalycium mihanovichii
My Gymnocalycium mihanovichii with a stunning pink bloom.
Aporocactus malisonii
My Aporocactus mallisonii blooming amazing with a bright red flower.
Gymnocalycium chubutense
My Gymnocalycium chubutense in twin beautiful stunning bloom.
Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri, Schlumbergera gaertneri, Hatiora gaertneri
My Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri, ‘Easter Cactus’ in multiple shocking pink stunning flower.
Epiphyllum Mrs G. Bheam
My Epiphyllum Mrs G. Bheam always put on an incredible flower display every Spring.

Wishing you ALL a fantastic Summer 2023.