Gasteria has to be a better house-plant choice than most cacti, considering that most thrive in relatively low light. Looks like Spring is on the way (not!). <:>

Jeff good to see you on this forum again, I was wondering what has happened to you, Norma Lewis

Notwithstanding what our Allemani friend says, replacing a pokey with a Gasteria, no matter how uplifting it may be, is not an upgrade.

Gymnocalyciums will thrive in the same light as a Gasteria, and what comparison is there in the bloom? Gymnos make naked buds that in an unopened state can overwhelm visual senses. A Gasteria? Small green fingerlings. When the blooms open, Gymno pinks and reds cannot be compared with the muted pinks and greens of a Gasteria. It is easily understood if you think of a Gymno as a polished amethyst and the Gasteria as a river rock.

It is good to see snow in abundance. It rests the land, gathers the mind and decorates the countryside. Most of our snow is gone, only places shaded from the afternoon sun remain snow covered. Today's sunless high, 39F/4C, means we will still have patches to look at tomorrow.

Even in the cold, life continues. Helleborus niger. A little overexposed, but in bloom 1/1/13.
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Various Opuntias.
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O. rutila in bloom a couple years ago.

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This is O. tortuspina, but it also shows a South African succulent, a Mesemb. I forget the name, but it will only live through the winter if it is on bare rock. You can see it growing in the spines of the Opuntia on the left, and in the rock at the bottom. the brown is from mowing the lawn. Come May, the small Mesemb 'crown' flowers cover the rock. I have 3 patches going, and the plant never lives in the soil. I'll see if I can find a blooming pic. Happy New Year.
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This post was edited by Dzitmoidonc on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 17:32

Room for a couple more plants on that shelf...

GS,

My thoughts exactly, which are in contradistinction to our friend Dz's expounding on the genus Gymnocalycium. Dz, I didn't grow them in SD, I'm not going to grow them here (though I do like G. armatum an awful lot), your entreaties notwithstanding and your Opuntia showcase very appreciated.

Norma,

I don't think I've gone very far from here for some time, but OK, it's good to see you, too.

McHarris, you wound me. You dinnae have Gymnos in San Diego? Life must have been so plain! And now, you say you shan't have them in Kamloops, the San Diego of Canada? My mind reels, I fall back into the classics for succor. With apologies to Sir Walter Scott:

Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
I shall have them here, in my adopted land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no bud of Gymnocalycium swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in succulents,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go on
To a life without pokeys, unstung,
Unwept, unhonored , and unsung.