Cactus Blog 

Oreocereus trollii

The irony is that this Old Man cactus has the girliest-pink-colored flower I’ve ever seen. That is one Disney shade of pink.

Terri passes along her simple margarita recipe in the comments. No pre-mixed sauce for her.

here’s my recipe without all the garbage that margarita mixes have:

4 parts tequila
2 part lime juice
1 part agave nectar

mix it all together in your favorite shaker and pour over ice into your favorite glass.

oh my my!

Thanks for sharing, Terri! I’ll get right on mixing it.

Record cold temps coming all week long, so you may want to cover your basil plants and bring in any Pachypodiums you brought out for the so-called summer.

Hello… I’m a regular reader, and very occasional commenter on your blog… you may remember me from a prickly pear cactus jelly post you linked to… [Ed: Yes we do remember!] regardless…

I bought this plant in July of 2008. When I bought it, it was labeled Mammillaria species… and that’s it. Nothing else…

I’ve included 4 pics… 2 of the plant when I first bought it, which I posted on the blog in hopes that some kind, kind person out there knew or could blindly guess the species. They couldn’t…

there’s also one with blooms from last year, and a current pic showing fruit…

If you could help me ID the thing, I’d really really be grateful… thanks for your trouble…

Claude from Random Rants and Prickly Plants…

Claude,
I typed up a response and saved it in drafts, and now its missing, so I don’t know if you’ve already received an answer from me, but you have a lovely Mammillaria perbella. The fruit in one of the photos is edible, though tiny, and only if you haven’t used chemical insecticides. If grown outdoors, it would be way more spiny, but yours is looking great.
Hap

Also, see here on Claude’s blog another picture of the Mammillaria in question. And don’t miss out on the beer can garden post. Really, you don’t want to miss it.

It’s a good thing it was warm and sunny yesterday as it gave me the chance to get a few more cactus flower pictures before the cold winter rains start up again next week. Cloudy and cold today too.

Echinopsis marsoneri

Normally these are a red flower, with hints of magenta. This is the orangest one I’ve seen. Maybe we should cultivate it. Then I could give it a delicious name, like “Ribbon Candy” or “Orange Smoothy”. Maybe “Salt Water Taffy”.

But no.

A little heat finally and the cactus blooms are wide open.

Kalanchoe grandiflora

I suppose those are bigger than the standard florist kalanchoe flowers, but still they are not really all that “grand”. But it is a beautiful blue green plant with stunning contrasting flowers. No wonder the florists like the kalanchoes.

I’m updating the blog to the latest version of WordPress, due to some security flaws in the last version, and we just had our first glitch – the blog was down for half an hour. But we’re back! Hopefully, the rest of this update will be smoooooth sailing all the way.

Jacque at The Creative Gardener is somewhere in Northern California and has a greenhouse full of succulents, and some blooming cacti too.

I blogged some of these recently. Here’s more cactus shoes.

Earth’s Little Gems may not post a whole lot, but they do have up some adorable gasteria bloom photos right now.

Instructions are available on the Cut Out and Keep blog. Hat and suave mustache cost extra.

And a recipe too, from the 99 Cent Chef.

Cactus Quesadillas
Ingredients (1 serving)
1 flour or wheat tortilla.
2 ounces of Queso Fresco – half of the 4oz. package. Okay to substitute with your favorite cheese.
2 tablespoons of cactus – drained and patted dry with paper towel.

Directions
Heat pan or grill. Drain and pat dry cactus from jar. Place tortilla on grill or pan and crumble cheese onto half of tortilla. Add drained and dried cactus over cheese. Fold in half and lightly brown tortilla on each side until cheese is melted.

That sounds easy enough.

Join us for our upcoming art show, “Oaxaca Cactus” – New sculpture by Cathey Lopez.

June 4 thru July 15, 2010

Opening Night Party
Friday, June 4 from 4-6pm
at Cactus Jungle Nursery and Garden

Here’s a list of activities I recommend on these rainy days.

1. Lift up all your potted cacti to make sure they’re draining.

2. Make a paper cactus hat. I would recommend old newspaper (if you still read the newspaper) and gumdrops.

3. Pull weeds out of the plants that are sitting on your covered deck. Use long tweezers to get between the spines.

4. Have a cactus margarita.

5. Plant a mixed succulent bowl for your dining room table.

6. Buy a 9-drawer cactus-inlay dresser.

7. Hide under the covers with your whippet.

8. Enjoy the English Countryside.

More pictures from Matt in Portland.

Now that’s a nice Echinopsis.

We’re guessing Mammillaria for this one.

Matt sure gets a lot of blooms out of his cactus. Thanks for sharing, Matt!

Mammillaria melanocentra

This photo is deceptive. While they are big flowers for a mammillaria, really this photo is showing an undersized plant more than over-sized flowers. But they are that brightly colored, and way spiny too.

Today it’s going to rain again, just to rub salt in the wound, to throw good money after bad, add moss to the rolling stone, make a mountain out of a molehill.

Harrison Street Succulent Garden

It’s not often you find people planting succulents in such a harsh urban environment, in the Mission, right there out on the sidewalk.

Nice job!

Someone is growing a variety of plants in Oklahoma, according to the Tulsa World.

And you can get in on it too, with the big annual sale coming up next week.

Cactus and Succulent Society of Tulsa
When: 1-5 p.m. May 22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 23
Where: Tulsa Garden Center, 2435 S. Peoria Ave.
Info: 357-2401

I hope someone remembers to bring a lot of those indoors come winter.

From Lillian we get 2 pictures of gorgeous Epiphyllums in bloom.

Hello Peter,

These are 2 Orchid Cactus I bought from your place a few years ago. They bloom gigantic  flowers every year.

Lillian

Success!

It turns out there are lots of cactus stories that do not come from Arizona, if you look for them. Here we have an event this morning in Las Vegas at Springs Preserve, a lovely place to visit.

Learn about the cactus at Springs Preserve
May 15: “Cactus Fun And Games” Join the Nature Exchange staff for learning and crafts all about the toughest plants in the desert. For all ages. 10:30 a.m. to noon. $8 adults, $6 children. $2 less for members.

I hope it’s not too late for you to get over there, and even if you miss the fun and games there’s the big June Blues Festival at Springs Preserve.

Whippet Snippets went hunting…

A little bit of the press release blogging for a Friday afternoon. They make my job so much easier! Don’t miss the upcoming Central Oregon high desert class on hardy, blooming cactus by “The Cactus Guy.”

Prickly Plants: Add Color to Your Yard with Blooming Cactus
This event is free to the public.

WHO: Bill Willis, the owner of Great Basin Cactus located in Terrebonne, will cover what cactus are the best choices for Central Oregon. He has traveled extensively throughout the western United States, studying and collecting cactus.

WHEN: Saturday, May 29, 2010; 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: The CHS Garden Center, located at 60 N.W. Depot Rd. just off Hwy. 26, north of Madras, Oregon at the top of the hill.

Jason is pretty good at hiding under the covers in the morning.

Echinopsis bonkerae have a lovely candy colored bloom. I expect we’ll sell a lot of them this weekend if its hot enough for them to open in the afternoons, like it was by 4p yesterday.

10th Street
Puya berteroniana – It’s the Turquoise Puya! I wonder why they call it that?

It’s warming up so the cactus are starting to bloom again yay!

Echinopsis marsoneri