Rat Tail Cactus -Aporocactus flagelliformis (disocactus)

 A lucky find in a local charity shop and some money towards a good cause  Bolenowe Donkey Sanctuary ....I couldn't believe my eyes ! Aporocactus flagelliformis or also more commonly known as the Rat Tail Cactus ....and I,ve been after one of these for years .You just dont see them around so much these days and they rarely talk about houseplants any more on the gardening programmes ,  let alone cacti and succulents ....bring back lovely Anne Swithinbank !
  It is very wet from a serious over watering , it has quite a lot of dead brown  stems and needs repotting ....

... I can see that it was once very beautiful , it even had a few dead flowers attatched ...it has lovely crimson-pink flowers . I,m sure I can rescue it , if I can just get it to dry out a bit first .

 I snipped off all those brown stems and pulled out all the soggy rotten stems , that were wilting in-between the more healthy ones . I just hope the stems and roots below the surface are alright . No mealybugs thank goodness .

 I have stood it in this plastic  hanging pot and hung it up in my North facing  kitchen window . Hopefully it will recover in the warmth of  my kitchen and then I can just let it go into it's winter dormancy, but I will keep a close eye on it and if it looks like it is getting worse , then maybe , I should repot it in some fresh , gritty cactus compost , before the cold weather of Winter sets in .
   I,m so happy !   Now I have a Rat Tail cactus and a Monkey Tail Cactus
 ( Hildewinteria colademononis ) Two beauties !

Meanwhile out in the garden .....

We tidied the shed and re-organised it , as I do at the end of every Autumn ....o.k so I made a pretty good start ... Cleaning tools and flowerpots , sorting out the ones I want to keep and re-use next year .
 As I tidied , so I came across the bubblewrap cover that I made to go over the outside water tap , to keep it from freezing , cloches and a pile of hessian sacks are now ready and waiting to throw over the crowns of our Tree Ferns should we get a frost warning .
  Most of our tender plants  have been dragged into more sheltered zones and I have 8 hour candles to light up in the greenhouse if need be and newspapers to throw over my cactus collection .
 I still have to dig up my biggest Musa Ensete , which has been fine up until now on a North facing bed . It's outer  leaves are begining to turn yellow in the recent storms , so hopefully with a bit of help , I'll do that tomorrow .
  Hope you're having a good weekend ........by the way ....if you are going to have a bonfire, please dont forget to check for Hedgehogs
                                               ...........and dont forget the clocks go back tonight !