Dede Sophie

Don’t confuse this Dabbaguli with the off-roading jungle paradise by the Cauvery river on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border that also shares the same name. This Dabbaguli is also offbeat, lush and green. But, it is located on the other side of Manchinbele dam , a gorgeous dam on the Arkavathi river. It is a small agriculture focussed village located by the banks of the Arkavati river at Manchinbele reservoir. And it is my offbeat rustic getaway for a Sunday morning bicycle or motorcycle ride. At just about an hour away from Bangalore city, Dabbaguli allows you to soak in the beauty of the fruit orchards and farm land in Bangalore rural’s countryside while enjoying the lush expanse of blue and green that make up the Manchinbele dam landscape. If you start early, Nice road will greet you with fog and once you cross Mysore road and enter the small road leading towards Dodda Alada Mara, beautiful nurseries and farmland greet you at every turn. It is here that you feel that you have left the...

Living in the UK you wouldn’t think that it would be possible to find epiphytic orchid cacti hanging from a tree, but grow them here you can. In fact arguably the most attractive of them all – Disocactus × jenkinsonii (usually always miss-named as Disocactus ackermannii) is considered hardy in the UK and has be given the prestigious Award of Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society! In reality, this is a hybrid between Disocactus phyllanthoides and Disocactus speciosus. It has a very complex taxonomic history and has been mistaken for Disocactus ackermannii for a long time. It is extremely rare to see Orchid cacti (Disocactus species) for sale but assuming you come a cross a speciment it is very easy to take cutting to propagate you own specimen. Check out the video above where the surprisingly simple process of propagating Orchid cactus (Disocactus) is explained. If you would like to leave a comment we would love to hear from you, and consider pressing the ‘Like...