Chelan Succulent Garden Surprise

As we always do when visiting Chelan, for Kate's 14th birthday weekend, we stopped by the Lone Pine Fruit and Espresso. Just outside their front door we came across a new surprise. I swear this place just keeps getting better. They already had fresh veggies, chai tea lattes, home baked pies, local wine and ciders, and my heart... now they have partnered with Buffalo Plants of Chelan and have a succulent and cactus nursery/store on premise, too! Kate happens to have a random but thorough obsession with tiny cacti and has a growing collection of them lined up in her window at home. Coming across this unique addition to one of my favorite Chelan spots on her birthday felt a little bit too perfect, that's how into the plants she is. We all also have fond memories of nanny's prolific hens and chicks, "pecking" their way across her garden and spilling out of old toilet tanks, the prettiest of possible plumbing woes (nanny let nothing go to waste!) So, us girls wandered through the greenhouse happily for an hour, learning about the care and proliferation of succulents and cacti. The proprietor explained that these plants can be multiplied innumerably if you clip off a succulent leaf or cactus "arm," let the wound heal for a few days by resting the clipped piece on top of the dirt until a little root sprouts, and then replant the piece in a new container. He recommended an even mix of topsoil, vermiculite, sand, small pebbles, and compost for the planting and a thorough watering spaced a few days apart so the pot is allowed to dry out completely after watering. We took this advice and a few of each of our favorites home with us to the Westside, along with the first beginnings of our summer tans and our newly wizened, aged little sister.

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