Herself's Houseplants

Thanks for the photo!

These tropical plants are cactus though the shrub like plant with thin stems and large leaves might fool you.

They love full sun but will do well in east and west windows too.

Soil should be well drained but do not allow them to dry out as you normally would do for a cactus. Keep moist in the summer, and a bit drier in the winter. They lose leaves in the winter months. Shriveled stems mean the plant is getting too little water.

Keep away from cold drafts.

Flowering is during warm months and fruit is born by the flowers. Although the fruit smells good don’t eat it.

It is thought these were the original cactus, cactus later evolved into the form we are more familiar with today.

Naturally it would smell as sweet, but would a rose by any other name attract your attention as quickly as “Pope John Paul II”?Ken Rowe doubts it. People in the rose-naming business deliberately go for something catchy for just that reason, he said. Rowe, of Corvallis, is chairman of the 17th annual Albany Rose Show, which continues through 6 p.m. today at Heritage Mall in Albany.

Visitors to the show will see table after table of the fragile blooms, boasting names such as, “Timeless,” “Veterans’ Honor,” and “Hoagy Carmichael.” [ more How catchy is the name of your favorite rose?]

There are now companies that will name a rose after you or a loved one for a fee. Google ‘naming a rose’ to get a list of vendors.

Or you can go to Every Rose and search for roses by name.