Let me introduce myself ...

[Hans J]

Thanks for putting that so well, Cohan.   
 
A little while ago, I would have been surprised at someone in the middle of Canada with a cactus passion..... but now that I have seen Kristl's cactus growing outside and doing so well, I realise that I was being somewhat narrow minded.
Pretty stupid of me to have doubts anyhow, since I know so many folks in the UK who have large cactus collections... all under glass.   Funny how we get these daft notions in our heads, isn't it?

Maggi :

It is not so simply as you believe with Cacti growing in winter ( outside) - there are more than 3000 genus ...and they comes from North America - to south Chile .
Some must have warm in winter ( 15° ) -some must have totaly dry from September until April - the most can not have frost .
It is always depending which Cacti you grow and from where it came !!!
The biggest problem for Cacti are the wet- not the cold .

Greetings
Hans

[cohan]

it sounds like a beautiful area--looking forward to pictures; any sempervivum in your area? i know there are some in bulgaria, but not sure about the areas..

.

  We are lucky to be located almost smack bang in the middle of these mountains 60km from the historic city of Veliko Tarnovo, and 16km from the picturesque town of Elena. The nearest mountain, Chumerna, is around 1500m above sea level- and easily visible while sitting on the throne
..... we will post pictures soon.
[/quote]

[cohan]

A little while ago, I would have been surprised at someone in the middle of Canada with a cactus passion..... but now that I have seen Kristl's cactus growing outside and doing so well, I realise that I was being somewhat narrow minded.
Pretty stupid of me to have doubts anyhow, since I know so many folks in the UK who have large cactus collections... all under glass.   Funny how we get these daft notions in our heads, isn't it?

yes, facts can mess up our cherished ideas, cant they? most of my cacti are more or less tender--as hans mentioned, they have a wide range of tolerances, and i do have many that could stand some/quite a bit of frost, but not as much as i get! i'm hoping someday to have a greenhouse, maybe a couple or different sections, to accomodate plants that can take from just barely freezing to something like zone 5; not just cacti, but south african bulbs and other things; for now, they are all in my house year round;
there are 3 species of cacti native to alberta, including the most northerly cactus in the world, Opuntia fragilis (a tiny 'prickly pear' pad type cactus)  a widely distributed species,which grows across a wide swathe of western canada, and widely in the u.s. up into the peace river area of alberta--far to the north of me!
there are a number of other species in at least 3-4 genera that i should be able to grow outdoors, just starting on that! my winters are a bit colder than kristl's, and a lot colder than places like toronto (we wont even mention vancouver) but my one advantage is a drier winter--wet and cold are two very different seasons here..

[Sinchets]

it sounds like a beautiful area--looking forward to pictures; any sempervivum in your area? i know there are some in bulgaria, but not sure about the areas.

I'll be sure to look out for them- i know there are some Bulgarian endemics, but as yet i am not sure where they are.

[cohan]

sinchets--is it simon?  there is a semp forum that has a list of habitats for sempervivum in various cuountries, if interested i could check there for you and give you some places to look in bulgaria..

[Kristl Walek]

Hello Cohan,
I had a feeling we might finally meet here too. Welcome to this wonderful group, where I have always felt welcome and cherished (a rare and wonderful thing) and I know you will too.

Look forward to your thoughts and comments,

Kristl

[cohan]

thanks, kristl,
i finally got around to joining...lol

[Sinchets]

sinchets--is it simon?  there is a semp forum that has a list of habitats for sempervivum in various cuountries, if interested i could check there for you and give you some places to look in bulgaria..

Hi Cohan yes of course you can do this and we will be happy to look out or any sempervivum, when we are on our travels.
Sam

[Maggi Young]

Sam

 Sam?   Sam?

[Sinchets]

In a land where your name sounds like someone clearing their throat you learn to improvise- sorry!
Simon

[cohan]

In a land where your name sounds like someone clearing their throat you learn to improvise- sorry!
Simon

i say, if your name can be written on the keyboard, stick with it the way it is if we ever meet in person, you can give a lesson on how to pronounce it, throat clearing and all!

meanwhile, i started to go through the habitat locations list at semp forum, and i will send the list to you when i get all of it--i realised the habitats are listed alphabetically, not by country, so i have to go through the whole alphabet to find references to bulgaria!

[dominique]

Welcome on the Forum Simon

[Sinchets]

Okay Cohan it will be interesting to have a list of places to work through. We have a Flora Bulgarica here on CDRom but it isn't very specific about where to find things just by large areas and the plants could be anywhere within these areas!
Simon

[cohan]

Okay Cohan it will be interesting to have a list of places to work through. We have a Flora Bulgarica here on CDRom but it isn't very specific about where to find things just by large areas and the plants could be anywhere within these areas!
Simon

i have sent you the first part of the list--up to R--likely most of it will not be helpful--too general again, or wrong! but maybe we will be lucky with one or two...

[Sinchets]

Thanks Cohan- i recognise some of the place names as misspellings and mistransliterations of Bulgarian place names.
Ali Botusch is Alibotush or Slavjanka on the bulgarian/ greek border.  Pancerevo is Pancherevo. The Pirin and Rila mountains- we will be visiting anyway this summer. Anthoborio, Bakovo and  Latsch(Albula-tal) will take more work- but with the snow we have outside just now i am glad to do the research. The biggest surprise was Aitos as a habitat of S. ruthenicum- it is an interesting area i have been through many times, and i can only guess that the sempervivum would be hiding up in the broken hills that form an end to what is mainly agricultural land.
Simon