Cactus Blog 

Even in Seattle they’re trying on some drought-tolerant plants for size. I wonder if that really means they’re not getting 150 days of rain per year anymore?

Plant choices… make a tremendous difference to the sustainability of your garden….

Water-storing succulents and sedums,… spiky red hot poker (Kniphofia)… are fine examples of plants that don’t need you very much.

Some gardeners complain that drought-tolerant gardening limits options and looks dull, but some true drought lovers are very showy plants.

A pretty basic beginners guide to drought-tolerant gardening, but for Seattle, it’s a good start. I give them 16 points.

Similar to the more common “Bishop’s Cap” but not the same. After all, they are different species.

Astrophytum ornatum. Or Astro, as I call it.

Usually they’re dark green. And they like shade in the hotter climates. But we can grow them in full sun, carefully, and they’ll turn red. Slow growing, but they can get tall – over 3 ft. tall if you’re lucky!

The book says their aureoles “often become glabrous.” I wonder what that means?

I don’t normally promote the nursery on the blog, but we have a very popular succulent wreath for sale online, you can go over to the website. And we ship them anywhere in the country.

John Bokma posts photos from his family’s hike to the cactus garden south of Chilac, near Cuacnopalan-Oaxaca. There they captured scorpions on digital film. And there’s a lovely photo of beetles mating on a prickly pear too.

Sometimes a plant can touch the hearts of a local community. In Michigan, a christmas cactus was chosen to live on in a museum.

The large, 40-plus year-old Christmas cactus plant now seen in the Starkweather Art and Cultural Center (SACC) has had its fair share of notoriety in Romeo.

The plant, native to Central and South America, gained popularity while literally hanging out in what was formerly Fred’s Market on Bailey Street. The former owner, Paul Ruggirello, said the plant garnished attention as customers came in to shop.

“When I told people I was retiring from the store I had so many people ask where my plant would go,” he said. “A lot of people seemed interested.”

After the store changed ownership in 2007, the plant was given to the mother of SACC administrative assistant Alycia Devins, who helped replant it and take care of it before it was moved to the art center.

Unfortunately there aren’t any pictures.

Dave Smith with The Oro Valley (AZ) Real Estate homes4sale website publishes this incredible photo of an Echinopsis bloom.

Matucana madisoniorum

These tiny barrels are often flattened in shape, usually solitary, from high in the Andes of Peru, like all the cool cactus kids these days. They get orange/red funnel-shaped flowers, so I’m told, but I haven’t seen them yet, so I cannot verify this. But they do bloom young, and only get to around 4 to 6 inches across. Very rare in the wild because of over-collection, so get your specimen from a seed-grown source.

Yuri, currently at the Department of Zoology, University of Otago in New Zealand, sends along this interesting story from the Los Angeles Times.

Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

PALM DESERT

Over the last six months, there has been an epidemic of thefts. Officials say they have lost nearly $20,000 worth of the plants. The main target is the golden barrel, which, depending on its size, can fetch anywhere from $100 to $800 each.

The problem is so bad that surveillance cameras have gone up near large concentrations of cactuses in urban landscaping, and authorities expect to implant microchips into the barrels soon to track their whereabouts.

Now that’s a lot of microchips for a desert community. We microchipped Benjamin.

Reality TV Magazine has an article with the headline:

Wipeout Contestants To Include A Break Dancer And A Cactus Farmer

Now that’s what I call a headline. So you’re probably thinking they’re referring to me, and my time as a reality contestant, but no, that’s not me at all. And I don’t even have to read the article to know that. But if you want to, here’s the link.

Ric thinks we may have mislabeled a plant, not that it matters when it has 26 blooms, but still…

Hello Hap & Peter,

I wanted to know if by any chance the plant labeled Echinopsis thelegonoides on your web site is in possibly mis-labeled? I am being told that the one I purchased from you almost 2 years back is possibly a E. spachiana and most likely not a E. thelegonoides as it is not tree like and will not reach 20ft height. It really makes no difference to me but would like to know what the exact specimen is. Anyway, your clarification in this would be appreciated. We enjoyed over 26 flowers this year from the plant. I have attached a photo.

Hope you are both well,
regards
Ric
Los Altos

 
Ric,
Great photo, your garden looks great!
It is possible that our “parent plant” was mis-labeled (however it was originally from UC Berkeley Botanical Garden so hopefully it was not mis-labeled…), Echinopsis thelegonides and E. spachiana look very similar looking when young and out of habitat could end up being very much alike when grown. Our big old timer has hit at least twelve feet tall before I took cuts for resale. 

Take care,
Hap
 

Eriosyce Occulta

I love these tiny black barrels, usually spineless, but when they do have spines, like this one, then they come in black too! Plus, the blooms are red and orange striped. Goohah!

Please note that I don’t think this is one should try to grow. Not because you don’t deserve it, because you do, but because I would be jealous when it blooms and we don’t want any of that.

In this blog entry I link to another unnamed blog that references a Swiss study, without links, that proves that having a cactus beside your computer screen makes you healthier and happier. Since I agree with the very premise, I have no need to link to the blog post, find the Swiss study, or show my data at all. Well, OK, here’s a quote for you:

If you place a cactus in front of your computer screen it will lessen fatigue and headaches that may occur from extended computer use. This was proven at a Switzerland company when a cactus was placed in front of each employee’s monitor and the employees admittedly felt better.

Now that you know the truth, you too should buy yourself a cactus. Right now. Come on by the nursery, I always say.

Opuntia subulata (Austrocylidropuntia subulata) – a tree cholla from the Andes, also known as Eve’s Needles, grows over 25 ft. tall in the Bay Area, although I hear it tops out at 12 ft. in the Andes.

This here is a piece of fruit rooted into the soil and newly branched. They generally don’t go to seed and instead the sterile fruit drop and roll and root. A new tree ensues.

Never water. We get enough rain here that they are the fastest growing cactus we carry. If you also water they’ll grow too fast, won’t form a strong woody core, and will flop over. What with those very long spines (hence the common name) a falling branch doesn’t seem like a good thing.

MorganTJ submitted a cactus chemistry shirt design to the shirt.woot olde west derby and got an earful of comments.

Reader photos come in bunches. Darin also sent in this blooming picture:

It’s a Sempervivum arachnoideum clump. It has vivid, expressive, graphically pleasing flowers. Some might even call them refulgent.

As a followup to our series of stories on Thursday about the ever-fascinating Agave plant, now comes this hopeful story about using Agaves for more than just tequila – it’s a source of renewable energy. Of course, it might force a rise in the price of tequila, which is probably less of a disaster on the world market than the rise in corn prices because of ethanol subsidies. Anyway…

With a history that stretches well back into pre-Columbian times, certain varieties of the Agave family are beginning to capture the attention of investors and researchers interested in indigenous plants and trees in countries around the world that are not used to produce food and have attributes that make them prospective sources of ethanol.

“Agave can bring in the new era of bio-economics giving the world enough clean energy for a peaceful and secure world.”

— Professor Remigio Madrigal Lugo, Ph.D., Agricultural Biotechnology

This is all very good news.

An interesting story in the LA Times about long-time residents in Los Angeles. I think the newspaper is always interested in people who have lived in LA for a long time. I lived there for 6 years, and that seemed pretty long too. Not as long as these people, who are well known in the neighborhood for their activism and their cactus garden:

A colleague had told me a year or so ago about Tovar and her husband, both of them longtime activists and neighborhood historians. He told me about the amazing cactus garden at their 100-year-old Lincoln Heights home.

I’d always meant to go see Nancy and Rudy Tovar, sit on the front porch and hear their stories.

But I almost waited too long.

The cactus is still there, towering scarecrow stalks of it, and Nancy is feeling a little better after the last round of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. But Rudy has had to move into a home in Rosemead…

When the World War II veteran moved into Nancy’s house, which turned 100 this year, his first move was to get rid of the lawn. He planted cactus and a brown turkey fig tree and raised chickens that laid blue, green and brown eggs. The lone rooster was so feisty they named him Macho Man.

They loved sitting on the front porch with their antiwar signs, with the cactus flowers in bloom, neighbors strolling by and planes circling over City Hall on the long loop to the beach.

BuddyGarden Blog found some nice sedums and put them in a great little trough. They look good. Go check it out.

Darin sends in a very nice photo of a Kalanchoe beharensis.

The old leaves are dying off while there is incredible new growth on top of crisp white fuzzy leaves.

Jaxx is a good boy. He’s spending the summer with us while his Moms are in Michigan. So for the summer while in the city, he has a new city name – Jackson!

Echinocereus grandiflora

It sure seems ripe enough. Ian tasted it. It tasted bad.

We (me, Peter) here at Cactus Blog are going to link to Sunset magazine, Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer, who links to Nan Sterman in her book, California Gardener’s Guide, Volume II to give you tips on how to remove cactus spines.

If you get those nasty fine spines in your hand, she says, you can remove them by painting over the area with rubber cement. Let the glue dry, rub it off, and the spines will pull right out, says Sterman. Duct tape works pretty well, too, she says.

Now you know.

Sharon also has a nice photo from Stephen Ingram’s new book, Cacti Agaves and Yuccas of California and Nevada which we really like, and not just because it has great photos, and I love the maps, and they list us as a resource, but it’s a really good book too. Maybe I should do a review…

Here’s my Cranberry Maragarita recipe. I served this at our employee party this past weekend and we went through three pitchers. You can use shots, or any other measuring device. It’s pretty simple.

2 parts Tequila
2 parts Cranberry Juice cocktail (pre-sweetened)
1 part Triple Sec
1 part Lime Juice

Over ice. Add Agave nectar to sweeten to taste. Add a little more tequila as necessary. Then take away everyone’s keys and drive them to BART.

…here at Agave Central.

Agave Glazed Ham
Serves: 4

16 ounces cooked ham steaks (2 steaks)
1/4 cup agave nectar
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Pan-fry or broil ham steaks until lightly browned and thoroughly heated. Remove ham from skillet or broiler pan. Combine agave, water, spices; add to pan drippings and bring to a boil. Simmer 1 to 2 minutes. Brush over ham and serve with remaining sauce.

That looks like it would make a nice dinner. Seems pretty simple to make. I wonder what would go well with an agave based dinner recipe? Maybe an agave based drink recipe? Late-night tequila binge drinking? Well, you’ll have to wait til later tonight to see if I fulfill my destiny and finish agave day with a tequila post.

It’s a needlepoint agave rug, of course; what did you think it was?

But wait, don’t invest your money and needlepoint time yet! There’s a description of what you get:

Remarkable scale and boldness of color. Terrific canvas for either a rug or a presentation for a wall. Canvas measures 26″ x 38″ and is available as a 14 mesh Zweigart canvas. Wool or silk threads are available, though we are partial to silk for this canvas. We are happy to pull appropriate thread colors to help you complete this grand rug.

OK, now you know the full details of wyhat it will take to turn this into a rug. Good luck.

…so I guess this makes sense.

They put an agave design on the side of a Keds kids shoe and look what happened – now the kids are drinking tequila and falling down drunk.

The Blue Agave Cactus Keds, perfect for drinking tequila on Taco Tuesdays. (Tequila is made from the blue agave cactus.) Created by ahoward50 on Zazzle.

In Arandas, Jalisco, Mexico, one of the two main Tequila producing areas in the world, there is a statue of an agave. This is strange because there are agaves everywhere you turn in Arandas, what with it being one of the two main tequila producing areas in the world.

Arandas began as a trading post and rest stop for weary travelers, run by two feuding families who fought over each other’s land holdings.