A visit to Humber Nurseries: the lithops section

The title of this post is kinda misleading, since there really wasn't a lithops section so much as a tray of sad, over-watered 'thops. I didn't find any gems that I wanted to risk my money on this year, although looking at the picture I kinda wish I had picked up the middle one on the far right row.

Maybe next year I will get lucky and arrive when the tray is new and not picked-over. I don't know why I have this urge to hunt for adult lithops when I've managed to amass a huge seed collection in the past year - far more than I can possibly grow with in my current setup. Must be the thrill of the hunt and the desire to rescue the poor things....but only if they look worth saving.

There was also this bigger pot, with a multi-headed clump:

Not bad, all things considered, but still overfed and over-watered. At $20 I just couldn't bring myself to go for it with so many other plants to tempt me.

A visit to Humber Nurseries

Spring is returning to Ontario, and with it my urge to garden, grow and generally think about all things plant-y.

Last weekend we made our annual trip down to Brampton for family visiting, a trip that has gotten even better since I realized that one of the largest nurseries in the province is only 15 minutes from our hotel! I had great success during last year's visit and was exited to see what I would find this year.

I was positively vibrating at this point!

The Tropical House - by far my favorite place! Also pretty much the only place I've seen at Humber, since we always seem to be really pressed for time when we visit. 30 minutes just isn't enough time to take in even a fraction of the nursery grounds!

Inside the tropical house! It's huge! Many times the size of the tropical greenhouse at the one nursery in our area that actually bothers to carry tropicals. And the plants at Humber are much healthier and cheaper.

A whole shelf of air plants. The grey ones in front are huge!

Bonsai section. I didn't linger too long here - my New Year's resolution was to not take up any new hobbies this year!

I'm not sure these guys would really qualify as "rare and unusual" since you can buy them at Home Depot and Wal-Mart pretty easily.

Tucked at the back of the tropical house - rows and rows of herb seedlings, waiting for warmer weather.

Love the maroon patterning on this guy!

An agave! I'm not usually an agave fan, but this one appealed to me and I really wanted to take it home....

until.....

$25?! Yikes no!

Now, I'm a bit of a hypocrite here, since I did end up buying a plant that cost $33, but it's all about spending your money on what you really want. Right?