Never been to this guy's place but he has an interesting online selection of plants. In small print near the bottom of the page he lists his location and info about visiting.

http://www.bobsmoleys.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Aptenia is used heavily as a ground cover out here in California. It stays very low and has nice red flowers and shiny succulent leaves. It can take a little bit of foot traffic. Not a lot, but more than some other succulent groundcovers. I'm considering using it in my succulent beds to help control...

I have shade cloth covering all my benches. A lot of plants do just fine in full sun in the ground but suffer when in pots because the roots get too hot. I'd recommend getting 50% shade cloth and building a simple frame to hold it up.

Thanks for the link Aiko! They do host the same writeup there. I've now bookmarked it. CactusMad, You were probably just Googling it if you got that retired page. I said you need to look at the cached page, which is a small link under the main link on googles page. The cached version is still there....

You can grow them outside for the summer. Once they resprout and start looking normal we can probably get an ID on them. Once that happens it will be easier to know how cold tolerant it is. Since you live in a cold, but not ridiculously cold climate, my guess is it could probably survive outdoors ye...

Ian's advice is great, especially because he has a similar climate to you. I was just about to recommend Steve Hammer's writeup about growing all kinds of mesembs and I just discovered it is gone! If anyone knows somewhere else that hosts his "New Mastering the Art of Growing Mesembs" plea...

The wholesale grower I get a lot of my plants from starts seedlings in big flats. By the time he has his workers pot them up the flat is overflowing with plants, with virtually no free space inbetween. Even more crowded than Steve's trays. You don't need to wait until they are that crowded but as Ia...

I agree with Ian. It is also known as G. anisitsii var. damsii.

It is a Euphorbia. You could be sure by making a small cut or puncture in it and see if it bleeds white. Euphorbias virtually always have paired spines (if they have spines at all, some don't) just like your plant. Euphorbias come from all over the world, though most succulent ones grow in Africa. C...

I keep them bone dry in the winter. Rotted too many by letting them get rained on or even giving occasional water during that time. I think they like it cool in the winter too. As Ian said they are hardy to 20f or so, but since NC will occasionally drop into the teen or colder in the winter do prote...

I'd expect it to branch and clump in time. So while you may never be rid of damage on those stems the overall plant will look fine in time. Probably reaching the point where you could remove the damaged stems altogether.

1 Stenocereus pruinosus 3 Ferocactus macrodiscus 4. Ferocactus, probably F. emoryi 10 Mammillaria duwei 2&6 are also Mammillarias, 8 is a Rebutia (or Sulcorebutia), and 9 looks like an Echinopsis. 5&7 look really familiar but I can't think of the names now. Anyway, others will give you the f...

I hardly have any Mams now, but when I used to grow them, for ease of care and showy flowers, I agree with Dave, M. guelzowiana takes some beating. Steve I never even took notice of M. guelzowiana until recently when I was at a wholesale seller (where I get some of the plants I sell) and I saw a bu...

There are no echeverias native to the US, and there is virtually no overlap of the genera in Mexico where they are both native. Basically, if you see a plant anything like an Echeveria growing native along the Pacific Coast from Southern Oregon through Baja, it is a Dudleya. A lot of species have a ...

I agree. Bottom one looks like M. magnimamma.