Gardening on Cloud 9 » Cactus

Cactus Phone Strap

Sandy — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:03:26 +0000

My very sweet friend, Bonita, got me this cactus phone strap as a souvenir when she was visiting France around 6 months ago. This phone strap is adorable, and the idea of carrying a little cactus around is absolutely cool. Moreover, it’s small and lightweight, making it a cute accessory for those who want to hang something different on her phone or bag. So, everything of this phone strap looks perfect, except one thing…

This cactus phone strap would be perfect only if the plant grows as the instruction menu claims

I can’t find any difference, can you?

My babytree is called Kibo. I have been following the instructions in babytree’s website and kept watering it once every month. Yet, unlike what the instruction menu says, the cactus hasn’t grown to a size that needs repotting.

Well, after thinking more about it, it’s actually good that my baby cactus is growing so slowly. Or else, I won’t be able to keep it in my phone strap for much longer.

Tabletop Garden – Double the Love v2

Sandy — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:34:55 +0000

This is the second Tabletop Garden – Double the Love that I have made, and it is now in Randon Art Workshop. While people can buy this tabletop garden in the workshop, to me, it is more for promotional purpose than for sales. Hopefully, the city dwellers, especially the younger generation, can find more fun with the green! Gardening doesn’t have to be anything too serious. Making a tabletop garden is fun, and it’s nothing too complicated. While a tabletop garden introduces more green into our homes and workplaces, it also makes a special and unique gift for our family and friends

Tabletop Garden – In the Outer Space v2

Sandy — Sat, 02 May 2009 01:46:29 +0000

To match the name of this tabletop garden – In the Outer Space better, I have taken away the moss and covered the pots and soil with black stones instead.

Which one do you like more?

Tabletop Garden – In the Outer Space v1

Tabletop Garden – A Green Cappuccino

Sandy — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:06:26 +0000

This is my latest tabletop garden – A Green Cappuccino. Ever wonder what those greens are? They are not moss or some type of groundcover plants, but believe it or not, they are dragon fruit seedlings – one of those exotic, bizarre-looking fruit which you can find in Southeast Asia.

For better drainage, I used a plastic container with drainage holes. And in order to get the plastic container to fit into my coffee cup, I cut up the container and made some alterations.

Besides creativity, this part also requires some skills and lots of patience

Tabletop Garden – Cactus Garden v2

Sandy — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:24:48 +0000

As I said earlier, I originally planned to cover my tabletop garden – Cactus Garden with a layer of off-white gravels. But since I couldn’t find any on hand, I used some big black stones instead. While the tabletop garden looked pretty cool with the black stones, the picture of the garden covered with small gravels had always been in my mind.

So, finally, to stop my restless itch for remaking the garden, I went to the flower market and bought some perlites yesterday. And here is my Cactus Garden Version 2! I am very happy with it, especially the little caution camel crossing sign that I made.

Tabletop Garden – Cactus Jungle

Sandy — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:29:13 +0000

Here is another tabletop cactus garden. Since this tabletop garden is bigger and has many more cacti than my other cactus tabletop garden – Cactus Garden, I simply called it the Cactus Jungle.

Because I wanted this tabletop garden to be viewed from all sides, I put the tallest cacti in the middle. Then, I packed as many cacti as I had, so to make it feel like a jam-packed garden.

I put my tabletop garden – Cactus Jungle outside my North-facing balcony. Hopefully, my cacti find enough sunlight there. In addition, I rotate my garden on a regular basis to make sure that all the cacti have enough sunlight on all sides.

Tabletop Garden – Where is the Fish?

Sandy — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:14:51 +0000

It is pretty quick and easy to make this tabletop garden – Where is the Fish? And it’s so cute too!

From the cacti which I bought a bit too many earlier for other cactus gardens (see Cactus Garden, In the Outer Space), I picked 2 of the smaller ones and put it in a small fishbowl container. I have also added a layer of perlite on top of the soil for decorative purpose, as well as for better drainage.

Tabletop Garden – Double the Love

Sandy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 01:35:06 +0000

I especially made this tabletop garden – Double the Love as a bridal shower gift for a very good friend of mine. Hopefully, it will be a nice table decoration for her new home.

Luckily, in the night right before the bridal shower, I was able to get into the store, and find this cool garden container and the cutie cacti right in time before the store closed. Else, I wouldn’t be able to make my tabletop garden and give it to my friend during the party

Tabletop Garden – In the Outer Space

Sandy — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:07:14 +0000

While some girls don’t find my tabletop cactus garden – In the Outer Space – absolutely lovable, all the guys, whom I have shown this tabletop cactus garden to, like the garden right at their first sight. Maybe it’s the strong contrasts of colors and shapes in the cactus garden that most guys find very cool about. I am not sure why. But anyways, I love these cacti. They are just soooo lovely

When I bought these 3 cacti along with many others, I didn’t plan to put them together in a garden. But after some mix and match, I found these three cacti looked fantastic together! And even better, I found a container that could fit in these three cacti perfectly well!

For potting soil, I repotted all three cacti with cactus mix.

The cactus on the right is too small. So I put an eclipse-mint box to give some height to the shorty.

For decorative purpose, I covered the soil and pots with moss. It looked great and I liked it…only until later when I came up with the name – In the Outer Space – for my tabletop garden. Now, I have something in mind, another design for this tabletop cactus garden that I think may match with the name of the garden even better. It can be very cool. So, let me give it a try sometime next week

Tabletop Garden – Cactus Garden

Sandy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:39:45 +0000

Cactus makes very good tabletop gardens. There are many species of cacti, some with outrageous colors, some with small yet flashy flowers, and some with weird shapes and sizes. We can use cactus to make a very big tabletop garden crammed with various types of cacti, or we can use some baby cacti to make a petit tabletop garden as small as a coffee cup.

Ideas of cactus garden are limitless. Just be creative and give it a try. I guarantee that you will find a lot of fun in making tabletop gardens with cactus too!

I went shopping in the morning and got myself 8 pots of cacti. There were so many different species of cacti in the market. Many of them were very beautiful, with pretty flowers, flashy colors, funny shapes and sizes. If I didn’t make any effort in stopping myself from buying more, I probably would end up with many more cacti than what I have now.

Before actually starting to plant any cactus into my garden, I tried to get a better idea of the garden layout first. Since my container garden would be viewed from the front, taller plants should go in the back.

Phallic cactus – The phallic shape of this cactus didn’t hit me until I brought the cactus home and got the plant out from its pot… haha

Originally, I wanted to cover my cactus tabletop garden with a layer of small, off-white stones. But since I couldn’t find any on hand, I used some bigger stones instead. The tabletop garden actually looks pretty cool with these big stones.