Hi Valentino, I send you some photos
I’ve taken today.
I hope is all right: I took a shoot of the lake panorama surmounted
by mountains; some "close-up" of the lake; the small greenhouse where
some plants of mine spend the winter; a non heated zone of the house
where I hold the last purchases.
Some geographical-climatic information: Luino (where I currently
live) it is a small town on the right bank of the “Lago Maggiore” (Maggiores
Lake), at only 5 km from the Swiss border. the altitude is 210 m
over sea level. The climate is purely alpine due to the proximity of
the mountains, with a rather elevated rate of damp due to the
presence of the lake. The winters are cold (-8°C a week ago) and
damp, the summers are warm and sultry (last July 36°C), It's a very
rainy zone and not windy.
January 31 2004 ...with
some delay I send you the photos of the plants that you have sent me.
the photos have been taken the evening of the same day that the plants
arrived to me (Wednesday 28/1). I used specific mixed soil for
Cactaceae plus 20% ca. of sand. But I don’t watered them. The first night
have held the pots in acold room the house ,
to avoid thermal shocks, from Thursday morning they are on the
windowsill of house that is eventually sheltered from the rain but not
certain from the cold! for now it seems all ok, even if from immediately
the Opuntia stock and the base of the seedlings seems me wrinkled...
March 27 2004 I adjourn you with two photos of the plants that
past very well the winter and they are preparing for the spring:
The Pediocactus has some beautiful buds (they are 5!!) They will open to
brief;
The Sclerocactus has already put on the new spines!!
Italy
~ Luino
