GardenBanter.co.uk - [IBC] back safe on the east coast

Well, we survived the honeymoon, coming back with the flu we caught in
Arizona. The first week in Maine was great--nice weather, although my
favorite stone collecting spot was underwater again because of the wet
summer. Someday I'll get there again when it's been dry. We then went
to Arizona, where we spent the first few days in Tucson, and had a
great time plant shopping. It took me awhile to get accustomed to seeing

the large sagaro cacti just growing out as if they were trees.

We intentionally packed light so we could bring back plants. We found a

great cactus nursery in Tucson (Bachs) which had very reasonably priced
plants, and a broad selection. I came away with a jade tree for $25
that I would have paid $150-200 for here in the Northeast, and a
succulent with the botanic name of "mestoklema tuberosa" that I can't
find much of anything about on the internet. At a Lowes I found a
Sagaro cactus (carnegia gigantea) that is about a foot high. It was
only $20. At a Home Depot I found a nice golden barrel cactus
(Echinocactus grusonii) that is 10" in diameter for $23 on sale. We
visited the Tucson Botanical Garden where there was a plant sale going
on, and found a nice selection of cacti and succulents. I found some
nice mammilaria and euphorbia. We then went to Tohono Chul Park in
Tucson which I would highly recommend. The natural setting for
wonderful trees
and cacti of all sorts was magnificent. They have a nice greenhouse
there, and we found a few more things including a strange looking
succulent from Africa classified as "Dorstenia foetida".

We packed everything into boxes and checked them as luggage so we didn't

pay any shipping. Everything seems to have made it back fine.

The thing that surprised me about Arizona was the variety of climates.
There is a big difference between Tucson and Sedona. Tucson is clearly
desert. Sedona is still obviously dry, but there were more trees and
some grass, although not as much as I'm accustomed to. There were
juniper trees all over the place which were great to look at. Then, we
tried to get up to the Grand Canyon but turned back because of snow, and
the difference in trees between Sedona and Flagstaff was remarkable-a
gain of almost 3000 feet. Ponderosa pines all over, and more grass. It
was a good experience and very educational.

Ok, just in case anyone is wondering, would I want to move there? No.
Too dry. Flagstaff, maybe but not likely. Great place to visit,
however, and I'll enjoy going back again.

When we get pictures back from the wedding we'll post some on the
gallery. I missed this, but Anita told me that Jackie Lewis (Jim Lewis'
wife) was seen dancing with a flower between her teeth, and apparently
somebody caught it on camera!

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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