Cacti Flowers and a Cornish Window Box

I,ve been meaning to show you my Schlumbergera opuntioides ..it's been flowering since last November . This was the tiny little cutting , that a very kind and generous gentleman sent me from the British Cactus and Succulent Society .  It is quite a rare cactus and said to be difficult to grow on it's own roots .  Anyway I,m delighted at how mine has grown and begun to flower so soon !  It is gorgeous ! I,m thinking about maybe taking some cuttings from it , to make it bush out ? Advice anyone ?
  The big boys behind were all teeny little thumb sized cactus that I bought from Mr Pilbeam at Connoisseur Cacti  over twenty years ago  ....oh ! ... here's his link for you ! : )  http://www.cactus-mall.com/connoisseurs-cacti/

                                           A close up of that pretty flower  .

Through the window , I can see the Blue Tits are very busy feeding their young in the bird house .

 So back to work and I really have to tackle the window box . I,ve tipped it out at the bottom of the bank, where I will sort out the tangled mess of bulbs and pansies , replant or pot them up .

 The old coconut fibre still looks O.K to me and also the (horrible ) black plastic liner , so I will use it again .

Off up to the greenhouse . The rope is there at the bottom of the slope to remind me to slow down  , as it can be deadly slippery just here . I slipped down an ancient flight of serpentine steps leading from a very high Cornish hedge a few years ago , and broke my arm ....I actually heard it crack ......it still haunts me !
 To the left is my Herb Garden ..yes  I know it needs weeding ...thankyou ! : )

Aaah ! nice and warm in the greenhouse ..smells good too !  Propagation for the nation !
 Well maybe not for the nation , but just enough for my family and a a few to give to friends ....the vegetables that is .
 Basil took forever to come up ....I,ve never been that succesful with Basil , it usually ends up getting greenfly and then gets thrown out , but these are looking good so far. Also courgettes, butternuts, squashes, leeks , more leeks .. The Marmande Tomatoes you sent me ,are all up and ready for their big pots now . Husband is growing cherry toms in his shed .

It is all too easy to get side tracked up here in the greenhouse ...I mostly grow cacti and succulents  ,all these other things have to be squeezed in somehow !
  I find myself looking around and things need watering , or things need tying up , or some rare thing has a bud on it  ......

.......and then something else has a flower the size of a dinner plate on it ..that I hadn,t noticed the day before .... and then there's a beautiful fragrance .....

                                   
                                       ....and I find myself lost in its beauty !

Anyway !  So I get together an assortment of plants , for a different sort of a window box .

                                  Including this one from the kitchen windowsill .

It is a Kalanchoe tubiflora , also known as Mother of Thousands or the Maternity Plant because it produces babies on the ends of it reptilian  tubular leaves . It is surprisingly tough , I have often grown these outside here in South West Cornwall .
It produces so many babies , that there are always plenty of plants to replace any that might be lost .

   
I have used Aloe greatheadii , Agave Americana varigata , Aeoniums , mesembryanthemum , a bright yellow sedum ,  pelargoniums saved from two years ago, some other things that I cant remember the names of  and erynguim karvinskianus to fill in the gaps and soften the look of it all .
So here it is almost finished ..my  Cornish Window Box..I just need some more sharp grit to keep the snails off a little bit of rain and then lots of sunshine and we're done !