Steve and Claudia Casebolt's Paradise Part One: The Plants

I met Steve and Claudia when the Cascade Cactus and Succulent Society came to visit my garden. They're delightful people with whom I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon last month.  Steve is a retired science teacher who began his career in pacific northwest but then took what was to be a one-year job in the Boston area.  Twenty years later, Steve and Claudia returned to the home they'd bought all those years ago bringing with them Steve's collection of cacti and succulents for which he built a greenhouse.  Today, we'll look inside the greenhouse at some of that bicoastal, swoon-worthy collection; tomorrow, we'll venture outside of the greenhouse into the garden.









Haworthia truncata 'Lime Green' was new to me.  Aren't those patterns incredible?   Steve was very kind and gave me an offset of one of his.











































Here Steve is separating  plants to pot and give to me.  Plant people are so generous!  Steve was also generous with his knowledge.  The potting mixture he uses for these beauties is equal parts of pumice, soil, and Turface,  (a soil conditioner. It is a calcine clay product used to improve drainage, reduce compaction, and hold moisture,)

The tray in the foreground is one that Steve had prepared to take to a talk he was giving.  Can you tell which ones are cacti and which are not?  Click here for a bit of help.