Holiday Cacti General Discussion Part #3

Hello everyone, happy Monday Morning:

Just wanted to show you the difference between the salmon cactus and the orange zygo cactus in color. Here is the buds that are showing on the orange this morning. This is the Orange Stock Zygo from Hirt. The salmon was put up yesterday in case you missed it.

Gita, I will be happy to help you with information to start your own business. If you want to do it right it will be a bit costly getting started. I will dmail you the answers to your questions, not because it is private, but because it will take too much time in this thread and not everyone really cares about it. If you want to see how it is done on eBay just go to eBay and search for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Holiday Cactus........pick one and open it and see what the description is, how they will ship and basically it is all there. How to do it is the part I guess you want to know. I had to be certified by the State of NJ as a nursery to ship west of the Mississippi. Maybe you need to check with your Department of Agriculture first to see if you need that. If so, the price of inspections can be a factor. You need to have your plants inspected for insects, etc. If you send plants to Calif. and you do not send them bare root, they will keep them and they never get delivered depending on who is inspecting that day. LOL. Most people do not put LIVE PLANTS on the outside and the things get through. I can not do that because I sell both retail and wholesale. I need to be sure the items are delivered after going to the expense of shipping and packing.

I will get back to you when I get caught up here. I am getting ready to open the store for Christmas and I must get the inventory out and placed.

Have a great day and keep warm. The temps are beginning to drop at night and get warmer during the day.
Sweater and sneezing weather. LOL Later. JB

Quick answer to Cole post. YES, I am proud to say I have 100% on eBay as a seller. Also on Daves Garden if you click on JBSPlants@JBsbirdsandMore, in plant scout and garden watchdoog you will see on Watchdog gave me the Top 5 Award last year. That is why I take special care in communicating with the customers and packaging plants. Talk about this later. I must go. JB

JB---
Please do not take time out of your busy day to write me the D-mail. You explained enough in the above Post.
I really AM NOT interested in starting my business. I was just curious about all that is involved in
you wheeling and dealing with all the plant shipping...

I have shipped asst. plants over the years..but nothing as fragile as a CC.
Brug cuttings--Ric Rac cactus starts--Pregnant Onions--etc....

I will look you up in the Plant Scout....Take it easy and have a wonderful Christmas Season business....
I DON'T know how you do all that at your age!!!!

Took a couple of pictures of the salmon one just now. w/o a flash--the lens stays open a bit longer--and so some of the pictures
are not 100% in focus. Here is some of the blooms....

I like that little red tip at the end of the blooms...

This one was a macro--and turned out great. Feel free if you want to use it in your business....

Next time I will move my tennis shoes....:o)

The peach/salmon ones do have very delicate shading! One of mine (not sure which until it blooms, but it's another cute little one from doc) is a pale lemon yellow.

Joyanna's favorite is the hot pink or magenta one... we have a big hanging basket of it that hasn't budded up yet this year, but it's really spectacular in bloom.

This was from a couple years ago... it's in a bigger pot now (which might be why it hasn't bloomed yet... they seem to like being quite root-bound).

That's VERY pretty, Jill....Love flowers taken in light shade. It sure brings out the color.

I just re-took the Salmon macro of one bloom--and moved my tennis shoe....
This looks pretty good....

OK! Gotta get busy cooking. Temps will be in high 60's today.
Might even get to mow my lawn for the last time....
G.

Beautiful plant Jill.

WHEW am I relieved. Gita, I read the post quickly before I went out to feed and I read it that you were thinking of going into business. Cross that off the list of to do things. LOL.

I love the different shades of Salmon. I often think how brilliant some of these colors would be if they were not messed with by the professional propagators. I love a pure plant. The hybrids are nice, but they are so overdone and so many. Makes it really difficult for a person like me who likes to keep it simple. I am now going to go to work. I promise. JB

Oh, Critter, looks like the perfect plant for a little girl to dance beneathe and dreamof wood sprite and fairies and other magical things! Thanks for sharing.

Gita I think you could have a very successful "business" sending out containers filled with the glorious smells emanating from your kitchen when you go on a cooking spree! Hope you and your HD company totally enjoy your feast this week.

WhooHoo JB on your Top 5 ranking. You really deserve it!

Here are a couple pictures of my apricot cc. It looks like a double bloom to me. Also one of the pink one that is in bud. It is much fuller than the apricot colored one, but slower to bud.

#2

Dark pink/Fushia

Phew----
One dish down--and one to go. I did the "Sweet and Savory Kale". MAN! Is that ever good!!!
All of you should try it for your TH.Giv. dinners.

If you want the recipe--D-mail me. OR--if no one objects--I can post it here. Then you all get ti see it...

Here is my whole Salmon CC. See how strong and tall it grows? Taller and more upright than
all the others.

My red ones haven't even budded up to the "elongated bud" stage.
Their growth is more compact--the leaf segments are shorter...

Here is my whole Salmon CC.

AHA!!! Found a baby red one in bloom!
Don't know if you can compare the size of the leaf segments here--but to me--they just seem smaller.

These are all cuttings from spring, 2010. So--almost 2 years old.

Here is a nice macro if the red bloom....

Hello I'm new to DG,but I have been looking at the pictures here.What kind of fertilizer's do yall use on your cc.

They are all so beautiful. I have one that has been in my family for a good while, it has salmon blooms.

Hope everyone has a nice day

Gita, I would love that recipe. Can you dmail it to me?

Hi Jojoe, I feed all of my plants a fertilizer that found the recipe for in the brug forum. I will look for the link. They seem to thrive on it.

I checked the greenhouse this morning. The buds are swelling, but no blooms yet. It is still very warm here tho, so it will be a while before they start to bloom. I can't wait to see what opens this year. I sure hope my yellow one blooms.

Gotta run, I am still supposed to be working.

Sea ya,
linda

Gita, go ahead and print the recipe on the thread. I do not think anyone would mind. They can skip over it.

Hello Jo Joe, welcome to our little bed of cactus. We do have some lovely plants and I am sure everyone would be happy to share what they use. I will even copy a little bit I have on fertilizing your CC if you would like to see it. I am lazy when it comes to fertilizer so I just feed Miracle Grow for houseplants. They seem to like what they get. I feed all my plants the same thing, so if they do not like it they just ignore it I guess. Can plants do that??? Ha. I talk to mine, so maybe someday they will answer.

I know I sent some cuttings to some of the girls and they were marked orange and pink.....well that is not so. That is the one that turned out to be salmon, so if I sent you one that said Petra orange and pink.....mark it Salmon. I just changed all the cuttings I have growing for sale. What a PITA job that was.

See you later. JB

OK! With JB's permission--I will share the "Sweet and Savory kale" recipe with you all.


Sweet and Savory Kale By: SJRJA

"This quick and tasty recipe combines vitamin-packed kale with both sweet and tangy ingredients for a colorful side dish."

Ingredients

· 2 tablespoons olive oil + some diced bacon as part of the fat.
· 1 small-med. onion--diced
· 2 cloves garlic--minced
· 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
· 4 teaspoons white sugar (optional—see notes)
· 1-tablespoon cider vinegar (add more!)
· 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (home-made or canned)
· 4 cups stemmed, torn (and rinsed-if needed) kale
· 1/4 cup dried cranberries
· salt and pepper to taste (I did not add salt)
· About 1/4cup diced, smoked ham.
· 1/4 cup slivered almonds-toasted--a yummy add-on.

Directions:

1--Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, sugar, vinegar, and chicken stock, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the kale, cover, and cook 5 minutes until wilted.

2--Stir in the dried cranberries, and continue boiling, uncovered, until the
liquid has reduced by half, and the cranberries have softened. About 15min.

Notes by Gita:…This is VERY, VERY good!

--Kale comes in a BIG bag—so that just about quadruples the amounts here.
IF you cook it all. (Why not?) You can freeze the rest in serving-size portions.
Buy local and as fresh as you can—and it will already be washed and clean.
--Now, as usual, I have to add something to a recipe that, I think, will make
it taste better. SO—I added some diced, smoked ham OR diced, thick bacon.
Brown with the onions and garlic-OR- brown the ham or bacon first..
Kale just needs some smoked meat in it! Amen!

****IF you use the dried Cranberries (PLEASE do!) you can reduce the sugar.


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Page #2.

Sweet and Savory Kale By: SJRJA

The below ingredient amount’s changes are if you use the WHOLE
2lb. bag of Kale. Changes will be in italics.

Ingredients
· 2 tablespoons olive oil + some diced bacon as part of the fat.
· 1/4cup Olive oil—plus about 1/2lb. thick sliced bacon—lg. dice.
· 1 small-med. onion—diced
· 4or 5 small onions—or 2 1/2cups.
· 2 cloves garlic—minced
· Use about 7 or 8 cloves.
· 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
· I used half a small jar of mustard. Or about 4oz.
· 4 teaspoons white sugar (optional—see notes)
· I used about 3Tbs. for this amount…
· 1-tablespoon cider vinegar (add more!)
· I added about 2/3 cup. Taste—and add more if you like.
· 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (home-made or canned)
· Need about 4-5 cups of broth. You can always let it cook down.
· 4 cups stemmed, torn (and rinsed-if needed) kale
· One full, BIG bag (2lbs) of Kale.
· 1/4 cup dried cranberries
· About 1 cup. They sure add a lot of flavor!
· salt and pepper to taste (I did not add salt)
· Just added pepper---about 2tsp. of it. Or—to taste…
· About 1/4cup diced, smoked ham.
· I had at least a cup and a half. Make sure it is GOOD Ham!
· 1/4 cup slivered almonds-toasted--a yummy add-on.
· Half a cup or so will do. It is only for garnish before serving.
· Be watchful when toasting Almonds. They can burn in a flash!

Follow all other instructions as on first page.