iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 20h

🚨 PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 For those of us who keep Thanksgiving or Christmas cacti, October is the time to start easing up on watering to help encourage winter blooms. 🌺

A large Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) cascading from a pot and covered in bright red blooms in front of a window. This is my plant in bloom last winter.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Garden art from another century. I love how ordinary vegetables were treated like treasures. 🥬🍅

James Peale, Still Life: Balsam Apple and Vegetables, ca. 1820s, oil on canvas. A richly detailed arrangement of garden produce. The vegetables are, from left to right, okra, blue-green cabbage, crinkly Savoy cabbage, Hubbard squash, eggplant, balsam apple, tomatoes, and purple-red cabbage. Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Hello to my favorite people. I brought you a rose 🌹

My hand holds a large, deep red rose in bloom, surrounded by green garden foliage.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

New to me, and it’s gorgeous. ‘Kura Kura’ Labisia gets its name from kura-kura, the Malay and Indonesian word for turtle or tortoise. 🐢

I hold a potted plant in a nursery. The plant has gorgeous leaves reminiscent of a turtle shell. I love plants with beautiful leaves like this, but it is one that I resisted buying.

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Zack🥀 @zackrose2.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Cape Sundew caught third fly without me noticing! Kudos! 🌱

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A few cactus blooms from around the garden today 🌵

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Emilie @emiliephillips.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Hookers Orchid Cactus Bloom

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

🌱 Plants I resisted Love the color of these marigolds. So much redder than the typical orange or yellow. They’d be perfect in a fall arrangement.

A shelf of Marigold’s at a garden center. The Marigold’s pictured are much redder shade than you typically see. I really liked them, but I resisted buying 😅

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I love when little mushrooms randomly pop up in my terrariums 🍄

Close-up of a few mushrooms in one of my terrariums. Moss is growing all around, and there is a bit of a red bromeliad in the background. The mushrooms are growing out of a piece of wood that cannot be clearly seen due to all of the moss.

Farther back view of the same mushrooms. You can now see all of the Crypthanthus (Earth Star) bromeliad. you can also see Jewel orchids, and lots of moss.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The flowers from earlier this season have turned into fruit. 🌸

Several Lophophora growing together in a yellow rectangular pot, surrounded by other potted cacti. A number of the Lophophora have small bright pink fruits emerging from their woolly centers, produced from flowers earlier in the season. The fruits will be collected later for their seeds.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Potting Up Cactus Seedlings | Demonstration + Timelapse

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ames @amsrbb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Pineapple tomatoes almost make me believe in a benevolent God. (@davidleegardens.bsky.social)

Two big tomatoes held in hand. They are orange with red streaks

One of the tomatoes sliced in three parts. The inside is orange with red webbing.

Brucshetta: the orange tomato with red webbing on a slice of bread, with cheese and garlic, broiled

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

This is worth repeating: AI won’t be responsible for killing us. The people building and deploying it will be. If AI causes harm, the people responsible should be held accountable.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I can’t believe how much these bloom stalks have developed in just a few days. 🌱

Yucca ‘Bright Star’ in bloom, with a tall stalk of creamy white flowers above the variegated yellow and green leaves.

Agave striata front and center with a dark reddish flower stalk emerging from the center. It’s grown surprisingly fast over the last few days.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Those little forked cotyledons are a giveaway: California poppy 🌱

Close-up of a tiny California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) seedling emerging from dark soil. The two long, narrow cotyledons have the distinctive split, forked tips that make young California poppies easy to recognize. I had one pop up on its own in a pot. They will soon be popping up everywhere when our winter rains come.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I posted a longer-format garden tour over on YouTube 🌿 Check it out if you’d like to see how my Northern California garden is doing at the end of summer. m.youtube.com/watch?v=99J4...

m.youtube.com

September Garden Tour 2026 | Northern California Cacti, Succulents & More.

YouTube video by David Lee

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Oh no, I have caterpillars! What should I do??? 😩🐛

Just kidding! This is a monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) feeding on narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) in my garden. I planted this native milkweed specifically to attract and support monarchs, so finding this big, healthy caterpillar on it is exactly what I was hoping for. The caterpillar is striped black, white, and yellow and is clinging vertically to a milkweed stem against a clear blue sky.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

This is bullshit. I hear MapQuest hasn’t folded, but Apple and Google have.

Screenshot from my Apple phone showing “Lake America” instead of Lake Ontario.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Not the best photo, but I had to capture it! My Arthrocereus rondonianus, which I grew from seed, bloomed for the first time last night. Such an uncommon cactus with a surprisingly beautiful flower.

Arthrocereus rondonianus cactus blooming at night. A slender, spiny green stem bears a magenta-pink flower surrounded by narrow yellow-green outer petals. This plant was grown from seed and is flowering for the first time. This is an uncommon cactus that I never see referenced anywhere that I happen to come across seeds many years ago. It’s endemic to Brazil, particularly Minas Gerais, where it is associated with the campo rupestre (“rock fields”) vegetation of the Brazilian highlands.

These aren’t hot lowland deserts. They’re generally high-elevation, exposed rocky landscapes with very free-draining, nutrient-poor substrates.y

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Terpy Ten @terpyten.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I finally got it!! No lines, no discoloration. What a challenge for this few second video. I hope you enjoy the hard work. #timelapse #photography #cactus #flower #stunday #bloomscrolling #cacti #blooming

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

What a sad day. There will never be another Dolly. 💔

A vintage portrait of Dolly Parton smiling at the camera, with her signature voluminous blonde hair.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I’ve noticed a couple of late-season blooms on this prickly pear as the first subtle signs of fall start to appear.

Yellow cactus flower from an Opuntia violacea “Santa Rita”.

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khaph.bsky.social @khaph.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Mini King Arthur had to pull his sword out of a different living stone this time because one Lithops decided to flower the week before the show. He didn't win anything again, but there's a mesemb show I can take this to in autumn, so he has another chance #lithops #succulents #plantsky #mesembs

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Lots of flowers on my Lophs today. One has much paler flowers than the other.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I went shopping. 😅🍅 My first canning season is about to begin.

A collection of new canning supplies on a kitchen counter, including a large speckled enamel water-bath canner, Ball quart and half-pint mason jars, and a six-piece canning tool set. Bowls of freshly harvested tomatoes from my garden sit in front, including yellow pear and red tomatoes. This will be my first time canning, and I bought the supplies to preserve some of this year’s tomato harvest.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Good morning to everyone who remembers when Michelle Obama was criticized for planting a vegetable garden at the White House. 🌱

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Those bowls of garden tomatoes became about 4 liters of homemade tomato sauce. Then I took 1 liter of that sauce, added vinegar, brown sugar, and spices, and slowly reduced it into these three little bottles of homemade ketchup. 🍅 #GardenToTable #Homegrown #VegetableGarden #MadeFromScratch

Three swing-top glass bottles of homemade ketchup sit in front of four larger glass bottles filled with fresh homemade tomato sauce on a granite countertop. The sauce and ketchup were made from homegrown tomatoes harvested from my garden. Behind the bottles are small blue vases holding freshly cut oregano in bloom, tying back to herbs used in the sauce. This batch yielded about 4 liters of tomato sauce, with 1 liter reduced further into approximately 3 cups of thick homemade ketchup.

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Colton the fish squeezer🐟🪴📚🏕️🐝 @fishsqueezer.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Okay, one last cactus flower & then I'll be done with them for a while. I didn't even realize this little beauty had flowers until I SMELLED it and that fruity aroma stopped me in my tracks. So delicious smelling. 🌱🪴 This pot is a bunch of cuttings that I will have to divide if anyone wants one.

A bright yellow cactus flower with 20 or so long, pointed petals and an unruly cluster of stamens.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The photo showed the flower. The video shows why flies can’t resist it. 🪰💀

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Stapelia flowers smell like decaying flesh to attract flies as pollinators. Nature is wonderfully strange. 💀 #BloomScrolling #PlantSky #Succulents

First bloom of my carrion flower, likely Stapelia gigantea. The large, star-shaped flower is pale yellow with maroon striping and fine hairs that help mimic carrion to attract fly pollinators. It may be a cultivar or hybrid rather than a pure species. Despite the odor, this remarkable strategy helps ensure successful pollination.

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Margot Foley @mfoley25.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Look at the fabulous curves on this statue at the San Diego Botanical Garden in CA. I have posted her before, but she is just too perfect for the #AlphabetChallenge of #WeekCForCurves #ECK #WCK #CA #Statue #Garden #Nature #Photography

This glass mosaic sculpture, titled "Freda," was created by artists Yuriy Akopov and Ilya Idelchik for the San Diego Botanic Garden. It is located in the San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas, California.The artwork features a gold-finished figure wearing a dress and head piece constructed from red and blue mosaic tile. In the background is lush vegetation.

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𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐞 🌵 @davidleegardens.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

It never gets old waking up to another round of Echinopsis flowers. 🤍🌵 #BloomScrolling #PlantSky #Cactus

A cluster of five white flowers opens simultaneously on an Echinopsis cactus in a gravel garden. Layers of long, pointed petals surround pale yellow-green centers are light by morning light. Echinopsis flowers often open overnight and each bloom lasts only about a day, making mornings like this especially rewarding. Five flowers open at once create a wonderful display.

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khaph.bsky.social @khaph.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Aeonium or Greenovia aizoon, also known as the mountain rose succulent because it goes rosebud shaped when it's dormant. #greenovia #aeonium #succulents #plantsky #succulent

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