One of Miles' to Go greenhouses

All my friends in Tucson have been telling me for a while "You should go and visit Miles Anderson at Miles' to Go, he is very nice, very knowledgeable, has plenty of unusual plants, and is a grafting expert.

So this monday at the end of February, I called Miles, asked him if I could stop by the following day. He said "Sure", and proceeded giving me directions to get to his place  (not an easy task).

Miles was exactly as my friends described him: nice and knowledgeable.  It is only after talking to him for a while that I found out he is the author of the 'Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cacti and Succulents', a book that I am always keeping handy.

His nursery Miles' to Go is a mail order only nursery.  It publishes a list of plants and price twice a year, and you can check the current list of plant on their website at http://www.miles2go.com/. The site contains tons of pictures and is a good resource to identify your plants.  The choice of plant is also really interesting with many rare and unusual cacti, succulents and caudiciforms.

  
Miles Anderson in 2001

 
Euphorbia cap-saintemariensis

The greenhouse pictures on the top and right are ones of the several greenhouses where the cacti and succulents are growing.  Miles has a very large number of varieties, well grown, and with many that were blooming.  I had a field day taking pictures.

Miles is also known for his grafting skills. He uses first quality rootstock. "We prefer Stenocereus victoriensis (syn. S. griseus) because it is long lived and has a longer growing season than many other species."  If you have bought some inexpensive "moon cacti" at the corner nursery, just to see the root stock die, you know how important it is to have a good quality rootstock.

 
Astrophytum asterias "Super Kabuto" grafted

Desert Tropicals Home Page List of All the Plants /b>