Hi there! A newbie here

[RCDS66]

Hello everybody
I am from Islamabad, Pakistan. My nick RCDS66 is neither an acronym for Royal College for Defence Studies, London nor for Rural Community Develpment Society. It's Roses, Cacti, Daffodils & Succulents; four areas of my prime interests in gardening nowadays.
Well, roses and daffodils are an old interest, going back over three decades but cacti & succulents are new. Ever since I built my house on a hill top a little outside Islamabad city two years back, I developed an interest in growing succulents and cacti primarily because they were amongst the plants naturally found on the mountain and also because I already had around 500 rose bushes that needed lot of water. So, I didn't want to add more water thirsty plants; hence cacti and succulents.

And when I entered the world of xeric plants I immediately realised what a fascinating thing it was and I was really missing something very profound over the years. So here I am, learning how to grow xeric plants and have already collected over 100 species. Most of the plants are young as larger specimens are very expensive in Islamabad and I want to have as many as I can possibly afford (may be little beyond that .

Other than gardening, I am an avid angler and hunter. Love shooting, both with rifle/pistol and with my camera; plant photos and landscapes being my prime area of interest in photography. Have great lust for travelling and besides visiting many far flung mountainous location in my country, have visited around 40 countries. Studying local cultures around the world is another prime area of interest.

While identifying some of the succulents, bumped into this forum and immediately realised that I can learn a lot here. The quality and quantity of information available on this forum is simply amazing for a newbie like me. So that's me....

[Tom in Tucson]

Welcome to the best all-a-round forum for learning, and contributing information on plants which often are difficult to find very much accurate knowledge about.

Since you mentioned that there are succulent plants native to your home, can you tell us what they are, and about the climate you have (altitude, rainfall, temperatures)?

I look forward to your questions, and posts.

BTW, if you haven't yet established an account on iNaturalist, I highly recommend that you do. It is a valuable resource to which you can make contributions, and gather data that can be of horticultural value.

[RCDS66]

Tom in Tucson, thanks for your welcoming note and also for pointing out iNaturalist. It sure looks like a very useful website.

Since you mentioned that there are succulent plants native to your home, can you tell us what they are, and about the climate you have (altitude, rainfall, temperatures)?

I look forward to your questions, and posts.

Though I have seen many succulents and few cacti growing in the wild in mountains around my house, Islamabad area is not particularly known for succulents and cacti growing in the wild primarily because of fairly abundant rainfall. However, other mountains in Pakistan (Karakoram, Hindukush, Kirthar etc) have a much larger population of succulents growing in the wild. Deserts, specially Thar Desert has many cactus species growing in the wild.
Islamabad city is at an altitude of around 1900 ft while the mountains immediately around Islamabad reach up to 4500 ft. My house is at 2400 ft above sea level. Islamabad has a warm climate, similar to US zone 9b with a difference of monsoon rains in Jul/Aug. During whole year less Jul/Aug, Islamabad gets 565 mm of rainfall (average 56mm/month) but in Jul/Aug alone which is the monsoon season, Islamabad gets 577 mm of rainfall that averages 288 mm / month. Overall average precipitation is 1142 mm per anum (95 mm/month). In summers, temperature can go up to 116*F but mostly stays around 98 to 104*F at max. In winters, temperature rarely falls below freezing (record low is 21*F) and on the colder days, stays around 34 to 39*F the minimum. Islamabad city does get frost but my hill top location is quite windy so there is no frost or fog in my garden. The strong wind does have an effect though and most of my plants are relatively short, compact and leaning towards on side.
So my climate is not particularly great for growing succulents and cacti. We have to be very very careful during monsoon and have to ensure that drainage is flawless. I have seen people devastating their cactus / succulent collection in monsoon due to negligence.

Hope it gives you a bird's eye view of my area. However, my poor knowledge of xeric plants bars me from providing specific details.
Regards

[mickthecactus]

Welcome! Lovely to see somebody from Pakistan. I didn’t see cricket mentioned in your interests....

Roses and daffodils in Pakistan seems incongruous but wonderful!

[nsp88]

Roses and daffodils in Pakistan seems incongruous but wonderful!

I thought it was kind of cool seeing they have roses and daffodils there too. Not something you'd expect here either but they are both big things here in Northeast Texas. Tyler is "famous" for its roses, rose garden, and Rose festival. And Gladewater has a drive through daffodil garden. Because of both of those places, lots of people grow roses and daffodils here.

[RCDS66]

Welcome! Lovely to see somebody from Pakistan. I didn’t see cricket mentioned in your interests....

Roses and daffodils in Pakistan seems incongruous but wonderful!

Thanks for the welcome mickthecactus. Well I did play lot of cricket till the age of 40 and still love watching matches when I have time.
As for the roses and daffodils being incongruous to Pakistani environment, northern part of Pakistan is home to three of the highest mountains ranges in the world; Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindukush. Himalayan Range spans across Nepal, India, China and Pakistan. Karakoram also extends in China and India but bulk of it lies in Pakistan. Hindukush originates in Pakistan and goes into Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. These mountain ranges are home to a large number of specie roses and specie daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, bearded irises, gladioli and numerous other bulbs. These mountain ranges, specially the Karakoram and Hindukush ranges which are actually high altitude deserts, are home to a very large number of succulents and few cacti. So, many of the roses and daffodils that you might be growing in your gardens in Europe & Americas have their ancestors still blooming in the high mountains of Pakistan and surrounding countries.

I have been trekking a lot in the mountains and have taken a lot of pics of specie roses growing in the wild. Unfortunately I was not much interested in succulents and cacti at that time so missed the wonderful opportunity of taking their pics in the natural habitats. I wonder I will be able to visit some of those areas ever again due my age. I have seen succulents growing up to a height of 15000 ft above sea level but regretfully, never photographed them.
I grow around 150 different types of fragrant roses and around 100 different types of fragrant daffodils in my home. I am a fragrance fanatic and do not grow non-fragrant roses and daffodils. Love of succulents and cacti is quite recent and I really regret not growing these wonderful plants earlier.

[mickthecactus]

Delighted to see a fellow cricket fan here!

I played until 52 when a back injury put an end to it. I watch quite a bit now as my grandson is pretty useful and plays a lot. Here he is with somebody you might recognise.

C546DE75-E5B0-4DE9-8F81-ED87A3DC7041.jpeg (560.09 KiB) Viewed 2006 times

[RCDS66]

Delighted to see a fellow cricket fan here!

I played until 52 when a back injury put an end to it. I watch quite a bit now as my grandson is pretty useful and plays a lot. Here he is with somebody you might recognise.
C546DE75-E5B0-4DE9-8F81-ED87A3DC7041.jpeg

Oh wow....that's very impressive. And this is not 'somebody'. This is Virat Kohli, one of the greatest batsman the game of Cricket has ever seen. I would have loved to have a photo with Virat.
Here are few specie rose photos I took in the wild. Very few large size flowering bushes grow on altitudes above 10000 ft and roses are amongst those few.

[mickthecactus]

Those are wonderful pictures. Thanks!

[mickthecactus]

The story behind the picture is that he was at Lords as a net bowler for the Indian team. He has also done that for Pakistan, Australia and England.

[edds]

The story behind the picture is that he was at Lords as a net bowler for the Indian team. He has also done that for Pakistan, Australia and England.

Impressive Mike. Hope you're watching him play for England someday! (Your grandson obviously, not Virat!)

[RCDS66]

The story behind the picture is that he was at Lords as a net bowler for the Indian team. He has also done that for Pakistan, Australia and England.

That's impressive. Bowling to a batsman of Virat Kohli's caliber would have been a great learning for the young man, I am sure.

[RCDS66]

The story behind the picture is that he was at Lords as a net bowler for the Indian team. He has also done that for Pakistan, Australia and England.

Impressive Mike. Hope you're watching him play for England someday! (Your grandson obviously, not Virat!)

[mickthecactus]

I fear for Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test...

[edds]

I fear for Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test...

If they bat like that second innings again I fear you'll be right.

[mickthecactus]

And the bowling attack is hardly Waqar and Wasim.

[RCDS66]

And the bowling attack is hardly Waqar and Wasim.

That's true. Bowlers of the caliber of Waqar and Wasim don't come that often but Pakistan even now has a reasonably good bowling attack. I think they are performing much below their true potential since the first world cup match. There is something not right with the team management in my view. There is no reason for this reasonably good bowling attack to perform so miserably bad on Australian wickets. Shaheen Afridi has all of a sudden become an ordinary medium pacer

[mickthecactus]

Indeed and I rate Afridi but grandson reckons he plays too much cricket e.g. every T20 going and it’s just too much.

Mind you not as bad as South Africa who just lost the shortest Test ever.