I’m finding it difficult to do another cheery post about my area of expertise—succulents—after reading this a moment ago on Facebook, posted by a friend who owns a nursery in North Carolina: “With great sadness I have to let my friends know that last night put a real hurting on my succulent collection. With all 3 heaters running it was still not able to hold 32 or more. Lot of frozen plants. Six degrees was a little more than we could handle…I pray for all who had ordeals with the Arctic freeze.”
Can you imagine a loss like that? Plants that took years to grow and collect destroyed while you looked on helplessly…plus your livelihood threatened? Then, a mess to clean that reeks of rotting vegetation? And no insurance because plants are simply too expensive to insure?
When another nursery-owning acquaintance—also in North Carolina—lost much of his collection (some of which he’d had since childhood) to fire earlier this year, sympathetic friends here in California who own or manage nurseries sent plants or donated them for me to package and send. Among them were Robin Stockwell of Succulent Gardens near San Francisco, and Carmen Contreras of Oasis Nursery near San Diego. I lined boxes with bubble wrap and filled gaps between the nursery plants with cuttings from my garden. The photo above shows one of three shipments.
If you’d like to encourage my grieving Facebook friend, please go to the Malone’s Nursery page and hit “Like.” If you want to help monetarily or perhaps by sending quality succulent cuttings, here’s the address: Kathy Malone, 11762 Cross Roads Place, Concord, NC 28025.
Thanks,
Debra
Latest posts by Debra Lee Baldwin (see all)
- Join Me in Celebrating the Joy of Succulents! - December 9, 2018
- Can Landscaping Protect a Home from Wildfire? - June 6, 2018
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