Cactus Blog 

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get an opinion from one of the experts about a disease(s) my cactus seems to have acquired. I spoke with someone on the phone the other day, and he suggested I e-mail some photos. Here’s the gist:

I purchased a beautiful 4′ cactus at Cactus Jungle about 10 mo ago. About 1 mo ago I noticed it had developed what appeared to be a nasty case of scale. I applied a potassium-based organic miticide to the surface 3 or 4 times over the course of a month, and the scale seemed to mostly disappear, but at about the same time, I noticed two additional types of lesions on the cactus:

1.) Raised, blister-like lesions, filled with a black tarry liquid, began to break out up and down the shaft of the cactus (see photo #1 below). The began to multiply and coalesce into lesions several inches in length. Some appear to be drying up and turning gray now, but others are still popping up.

2.) Flat, dry brown speckled patches that don’t scrape off, some reaching up to several square inches, have formed near the bottom of the cactus, but appear stable (see photos below).

I was wondering if you might know what either of these two types of lesions are. Do you think they relate to the original scale problem, or might they be related to the treatment I used, or perhaps just stress? What would you suggest as treatment?

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated
Many thanks

Sincerely,
Andrew

Andrew,

It looks, from the photos, like the plant has a chemical burn. It is also possible, if you scrubbed the dead scale off that the plant’s skin was damaged. Either way, it appears to be cosmetic damage, for the most part, and the plant will probably come out of it fine, with some scarring. If there are still any soft spots on the plant, then gently clean these areas with household peroxide.

Good Luck,
Hap

I know you’ve all been slogging through my week-long fascination with native shrubs and wildflowers found along the Sonoma Coast, and were wondering when I would get to the succulents.

Well, wait no longer.

Sedum spathulifolium

We grow this Pacific Stonecrop and it sells like hotcakes on a frigid morning at the high school football game. Other sedums are quite popular too. But this one is special, because, you know, it’s very nice.

Olivia Judson in the New York Times alerts us to this wonderful quote from the head of the Linnean Society the same year that Darwin first spoke of Natural Selection before the Linnean Society.

“The year which has passed has not, indeed, been marked by any of those striking discoveries which at once revolutionize, so to speak, the department of science on which they bear.”

Such is life. The next year The Origin of Species was published and he must have been slightly embarrassed at his mistake.

On the other hand, that was the same year as the discovery of cactus in the new world, so it was embarrassing all around. (Of course, I may be wrong about the date a little bit, and I may end up being a little embarrassed about that myself. Only time will tell.)

I can’t be sure what this is since it’s not in bloom right now, but i think I’ve found a rare coastal buckwheat.

Eriogonum luteolum var. caninum

Traveling in Colorado this summer? Grand Junction’s Rough Canyon has lots of rare cactus to see. If you hurry they’ll still be in bloom.

Rough Canyon, only 8.6 miles from downtown Grand Junction, is geologically fascinating and home to some of the world’s most rare plants and animals. As its name implies, it’s also rough, rugged and rocky….

(P)ink and yellow Prickly Pear Cactus, vibrant red Claret Cup Cactus… (are) in full bloom.

The trail head is well marked, and initially leads to both the Mica Mine and Rough Canyon. It splits in very short order. The right fork takes you to the Mica Mine, the left trail leads to the tangled maze of Rough Canyon, where the Spineless Hedgehog cactus and rare Canyon Tree Frog live.

You may or may not spot the rare Spineless Hedgehog cactus, since they’re so rare. You could, however, see or hear a Canyon Tree Frog if you look closely and you’re in the canyon at the right time of day.

Cactus and Frogs! Every hike should have cactus and frogs. I mean really that’s the only point of hiking in the West as it turns out. Cactus and frogs.

I heard once that the Nuremberg Trials proved that just because your government told you to do something was no defense. At least that’s what the Americans said when they convicted the Germans. Apparently we have a new standard in the United States.

When the Government tells you to do something, I think you all recognize, uh, that that is something that you need to do.

That was Senator Kit Bond this morning on NPR. Good to know – All power to the State and it’s representatives in government and especially to the police, I mean the state, I mean the police… the state… the police… state….

Benjamin along the Sonoma Coast

Yesterday we featured a yellow yarrow, as found on the Sonoma Coast. Today we find a white yarrow.

Achillea millefolium

Pretty.

Hi,

I love Cactus Jungle (!) and it looks like I’ll be needing to make a trip soon to replace my indoor Euphorbia Ingens. The plant was gifted to me by a friend many years ago when it outgrew his little apartment. It was about 5′ tall at that time and it is now at least 6-1/2′ tall with several branches. It used to produce a multitude of little green leaves and grew a few new “arms” and then about five months ago I swapped it’s location with my Euphorbia hermentiana, so the hermentiana could have the best light for a while (although all the light is pretty good). I was about to swap them around again when I noticed the Euphorbia Ingens was dying. It started getting soft and rubbery at the tips of each branch including the top of the main trunk. Now about 2″ of each branch is very soft and yellow and I’ve noticed a brown creeping area on the largest branch. This is happening pretty fast. I think one of my [bleeping] cats decided to use the trunk as a scratch post as I’ve noticed some old healed pinprick patterns on the base side facing the wall. I don’t know what caused the dying — lack of proper sunlight, cat damage, virus, other. Should I try cutting the plant in half (the bottom half below the branches does not appear to be sick) or simply have a funeral for the entire plant? My camera is on the blink so unfortunately I can’t send a picture!

By the way, the Euphorbia hermentiana is growing insanely large even with pruning new branches and I’ll bring a picture to the store to see if you guys think I should have it repotted. I can’t repot it myself without risking life-threatening injury…and I don’t want to damage this lovely plant.

Thank you,
Regina

Regina,

If all the branch tips are showing signs of soft rot, it sounds like a virus. You could try cutting off all the infected parts, cleaning the cuts with Hydrogen-peroxide and hope it will stop the infection… but if it is a virus it is likely throughout the plant. Please be careful and remember the sap is toxic and you do not want it on your skin or worse in your eyes! Wear chemical resistant gloves and eye protection if you start cutting.

Please bring by photos and we will be happy to give better advice.

Take care and good luck,
Hap

Geraniums are showier and more easily found in window boxes around the world, but Pelargoniums are better. Don’t believe me? Then check out the photos in the Dallas Morning News and you’ll be a convert.

…questions that we just sometimes feel the need to answer in video form.

This isn’t strictly a cactus and succulent video, and in fact it is unquestionably the stupidest thing I have ever committed to video and posted on the web for all to point at me and laugh. So go ahead, I dare you.

I can’t believe I just posted that. At least it was short. 

These uncultivated varieties of yarrow come in yellow and white on the Sonoma Coast. Here’s the yellow version in amongst the rocks.

And from above, another stand of yellow yarrow:

It’s a small business story in a small town setting with small cacti on the table. It’s also in Medford, Oregon. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Then you haven’t been to the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market, or seen the cactus booth.

Moments ago, she sold a cactus each to a mom and her two sons, sending them away with this simple instruction: “Water them every two or three weeks.”

She and her husband, Chuck Timberman, have been bringing their cacti and other succulents to the market for about 10 years, setting up beneath their Timbermanor Nursery banner. Although they are a familiar sight, their booth doesn’t attract the crowds that swarm around some of the other vendors — those selling starter plants for the garden, fresh produce and flowers.

Call Timbermanor Nursery a business, if you wish. The Timbermans look at it as “a hobby that pays for itself.”

That sounds exactly like how we started. Except we’re in California, not Oregon, and in a giant metropolitan area, not a small town, and we started as a backyard nursery, not a Farmers Market booth, and we always did better than break-even. On the other hand, we do tell everyone to “Water them every two or three weeks.”

David Lindberg sent along photos of a gorgeous Epiphyllum in bloom that he rescued from the woman whose house he bought.

He wants to name the plant after her, but he can’t remember her name. If she happens to read this, maybe she could clue us in, please? Thank you.

[Update 6/21: The plant is now called Hillred, as noted below in comments.]

Here’s an interlude in our week-long festival of Sonoma County native plants.

It’s a cow. Now, to be sure, she’s trampling some native plants even as we speak.

From the coast, the Sonoma Coast, which you should be able to identify now from the wide sweep of the photo.

Baccharis pilularis is a great native shrub for your front yard. You should look into getting one. Do you see how beautiful they are in these wind-swept areas? Well, now imagine them up against your house after you’ve painted it a nice eggshell blue. Now that’s class.

In Saguaro National Park they’ve come up with such a simple and elegant solution to poaching, that one wonders why it wasn’t thought of before.

Bob Love, the chief ranger says “Saguaro National Park was set aside to preserve the saguaro cactus if we can’t protect them here where can we can we protect them.”

So he’s come up with a plan to deter plant poachers. A microchip will be implanted in the saguaros…. Each chip costs $3.50

I like it. Maybe we can also microchip my sunglasses, since they keep getting stolen too, or lost, hard to know which.

Somebody does something unfortunate to some cactus or other. It looks like a Japanese game show. I don’t know what to add. In fact, I’ll just say that you shouldn’t click the link because that would be encouraging bad behavior.

…for the environment. 4 Baby Cactus Owls were hatched in captivity. The Tucson Citizen is all over it.

A nonprofit group that rescues birds of prey in Arizona has hatched four cactus ferruginous pygmy owls, the first ones bred in captivity, a researcher for the Arizona Game & Fish Department said….

Though the new owls will remain in captivity, the long-term goal is to replenish the dwindling population of the birds in the Sonoran desert, said sanctuary director Bob Fox.

“The plan will be to get the birds released to the wild at some point,” said Fox, who cares for about 150 owls and hawks at Wild at Heart.

I’d like to add my 2 cents worth:

Woohoo!

In Texas, the like to garden in themes, and apparently now cactus is a theme with which to garden.

Gardens can do more than put food on the table or create curb appeal. For some, they’re a reflection of values…. Here are some other suggestions for themes that can be fashioned into gardens:

I think this is sad. A theme is like “French Provincial, mid-1860s” or “Light Green” or “Mow and Blow” but cactus isn’t a theme, it’s a plant family. I mean you could say that Fucshia is a theme then. Imagine the possiblities.

Roof: Top off a sturdy outbuilding with a layer of sod sown liberally with wildflowers. Or use succulents, cactus and other drought resistant plants on the roof of structures where they can be maintained and enjoyed.

Oh, I guess I was wrong. WELL, green roofs seems like a good idea. 

Nevermind.

Another photo from our Sonoma foray.

Calystegia collina ssp. collina does not appear to be available in cultivation, probably because it’s tiny, but maybe because it’s too cute, too beautiful to be able to properly photograph and thus veritably impossible to advertise. At least, that’s my excuse for an out-of-focus picture.

Phyllis sends along her Oscularia deltoides in bloom. I think she’s in Berkeley, maybe Oakland.

It really dominates the garden, no? Lot’s of pretty things, and a giant mass of pink flowers in the center which won’t last long but is astounding nonetheless. I bet the butterflies and bees are going wild.

Echeveria setosa

A soft and fuzzy echeveria that is often hybridized from. They lay prone, flat on the ground and are a good respite from the more active echeverias, like E. nodulosa and all those curly edged hybrids.

More from my walk along the coast in Sonoma County.

Sisyrinchium bellum
Blue Eyed Grass

In cultivation these get quite large, clumps to 1 ft., with dozens of blooms for months on end. In these more natural, i.e. harsh, conditions, they’re tiny little plants with one flower at a time. But the flowers are just as blue as ever.

In this closeup we can see the pollen. Seems like some bees have been by here recently. Unless it was the cows nearby that were pollinating the flowers.

This one is a very timely and up-to-date ad I designed for the California market. It was to appear in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, in the Home and Garden section. But it got censored.

Weddings start this Tuesday all over the state. The new version of the ad can be seen in today’s Chron, just not this one, which can only be seen here on the web.

I was feeling sick yesterday so I forgot to post this adorable picture for you. But here it is, and a day late is better than a dollar short, or so I’ve been told.

This week we’ll be featuring some photos of native wildflowers and succulents from the Sonoma Coast, as that’s where I went for a walk this week and took some pictures of some native wildflowers and succulents.

First up we have a rare lupine.

Lupinus tidestromii

It’s small, and rhizomous, and not very widespread at all. But aren’t they adorable.

I’m not aware of this being in cultivation anywhere, maybe because it’s so small. But presumeably with better conditions it would get bigger. The leaves are quite pretty and the seed pods were in all stages of ripenesses.

Sheila at the Gardens of Petersonville, oddly not in Petersonville but in Laguna Beach, has replaced her annuals overlooking a waterfall with low maintenance succulents. Photographic proof is provided.