Cactus Blog 

I understand the Portsmouth Cactus Show was a big hit this year, at least according to the Portsmouth Press. I wonder if that is the Portsmouth in New Hampshire or in old Hampshire.

THERE was plenty of plants to be proud of when the Portsmouth & district branch of The British Cactus and Succulent Society held their popular Autumn Cactus Show.

A photographic exhibition made up part of the event at Christ Church Hall, Widley, while there was also plant sales and a chance for enthusiasts to catch up with friends.

Well that answers that question. If it’s in a town called Widley its in England.

Here we see the first prize winner showing of her first prize winning cactus for the press, the Portsmouth Press.

Yesterday I posted some gorgeous agaves but I forgot one!

Agave schidigera “Shira ito no Ohi” is the smallest of the group. It will be 16-18″ when full grown, and quite filiferous. Stripey too.

It’s hard to know what to add to the photo, but the Santa Rosa Press Democrat has a whole article filled with cactusey goodness and questions for the gentleman putting hats on cactus in Santa Rosa.

People seem to like the closeup shots of the agaves. They’re very scenic. Like this one:

Agave “Quadricolor” is very toothy with occasional offsets and will top out at about 2 feet across. The leaves are very stiff and the spines are very rigid and so this is a dangerous plant to put in the parking strip next to your house. Maybe in the backyard?

Agave “Blue Glow” is the classic new hybrid small agave that will top out at 18″ and will glow red with backlighting. So please set it in the ground where you will get some sunshine backlighting these gorgeous red spines.

And a bonus Agave parryi to enjoy, too!

Cleistocactus ritteri in bloom with some late flowers. They usually flower in spring and early summer. The stems will get 3 to 4 feet tall, and branch from the base only. Generally pretty upright, they occasionally like to lean outwards and sway to the breeze. And they’re from Bolivia!

Nicole has completed a series of new terrariums using Chive Terrarium Glass and a bunch of small succulents, with adorable colored sand for all!

From the L.A. Times website, after critiquing their modern cactus photo yesterday, I happened upon this Blue Agave photo and article.

At the Stanford Avalon community garden in Los Angeles, Norma Garcia picked up a blue agave leaf nearly 3 feet long that she planned to roast on a dry, hot griddle. Once she had burned the outside, she would juice the flesh, getting about 2 cups of liquid from the leaf.

This paragraph may be taken out of context from the whole article, but it kind of does that by itself anyway, so the mystery of the paragraph is real. Click through and check it out yourself.

These are our newest cutest little Living Stones in the Mesemb Family (Aizoaceae, Subfamily Mesembryanthemoideae)

Lapidaria margaretae

And the flowers! Oh the yellow flowers…

And a bonus Mesemb! This one isn’t a Living Stone Mesemb, but an Ice Plant Mesemb, and quite the hadry little flowering plant.

Oscularia caulescens has the most adorable (i.e. unpronounceable) common name – Dassievygie.

The cacti are always modern in L.A.

It’s an interesting composition from the LA Times website, all modern cactus and modern architecture and modern tree aloes and… pumpkins? I love it!

Not now, but later these three aloes will be:

Small

Medium

Large

Hah! That was fun!

OK, so lets talk. The small aloe is Aloe dinteri and its the less common of the Partridge Aloes and it will get maybe 10″ tall.

The medium aloe is a baby Aloe marlothii which will form a single blue and toothy rosette on a trunk that will get 4 to 10 ft. tall.

And the big aloe is Aloe “Hercules” so named for its strength and flexibility. No, that’s not right. Maybe because its fast growing and will get 20 feet tall? I don’t understand what that has to do with Hercules. Hercules wasn’t a giant and wasn’t faster. He was stronger and normal height. Hmmm. Who named that aloe?

Citing everything from grazing to insects, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday granted endangered species protection to two cacti found in Arizona.

The Acuña cactus, found in Pima, Pinal and Maricopa counties, is one of two Arizona cacti granted endangered species protection Monday….

These plants, the Acuña cactus and the Fickeisen plains cactus, are the latest two to go through the process and be put on the endangered list.

That is one pretty plant which is the main criteria the government uses for determining what species get protected. I would protect that! The Acuña Cactus (Echinomastus erectocentrus var. acunensis), also known as the Pineapple Cactus, is found in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.

The Fickeisen plains cactus (Pediocactus peeblesianus fickeiseniae), also known as the Navajo Pincushion Cactus, is tiny and also cute and also worthy of protection in my aesthetic opinion.

 

If a cactus can be “cute,” the Fickeisen plains cactus qualifies. “Cactophiles” are smitten by this petite plant with cream-colored flowers. Unfortunately, illegal collection by enthusiasts and commercial cactus dealers has contributed to the decline of many species in the genus Pediocactus.

Hello,
Would you be so kind as to tell me if there is something wrong with the two specimens? One is a Fairy Castle Cactus (I think) with brown spots forming and the other specimen (no idea what kind) is discoloring or developing bark. I am new to all this. Growing the cacti indoors under fluorescent lights with reflectors set about 12 inches above the plants.

Thank you!!!
Steve

Steve,
The round cactus, probably a Gymnocalycium, looks like it might be rotting. If the lower portion that is turning brown is soft then the plant is not going to survive. It looks like it may be too much water for the light conditions.

The Fairy Castle, or Cereus, looks fine from the photo. The spots could be scale, an insect that you can clean off by spraying rubbing alcohol directly onto it which will kill it and break down its shell, and then you can wipe it off with a soft paintbrush. Or it could be some damage from neighboring spines that have healed over. The plant looks like it could probably use more light and less water too.

I don’t know where you are or how hot it is there, but assuming that it is not too hot then growing these under lights I would water every 3 to 4 weeks only.

Peter

A tricky ID? You tell me.

 

I picked this plant up last year but it didn’t come with an ID tag. It’s blooming and the flowers look pretty.

Reilly

My answer is after the break (more…)

Euphorbia horrida v. striata has clusters of variegated grey-green stems to 18″ tall and is hardy to 25F. That’s pretty good!

It’s from the Steytlerville District, which is in South Africa, and is a settlement in Cacadu District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, on the Groot River.

Not just Euphorbias, but Aloes abound in Steytlerville.

Apparently you are supposed to visit Oscar’s Bar – Karroo Theatrical Hotel when in Steytlerville. Good to know!

The California desert can come alive with cactus flowers late in the summer when the rain is just right.

The nipple cactus blooms in response to summer rains in the deserts of California. James Cornett/Special to The Desert Sun

Recently, I was hiking over a remote desert mountain range in eastern Riverside County. I was looking for one of California’s rarest species of cactus, Graham’s nipple cactus, Mammillaria grahamii. To find it one doesn’t actually look for the cactus but rather its flower. This is the state’s only cactus species that predictably blooms in response to summer rains and it has rained a lot this summer in the deserts of California.

Read on for the tale of California’s three Mammillaria species.

Gomphrena decumbens
Airy Bachelor Buttons
Native to Central America
Evergreen Perennial

Sun: Full to Part Sun
Water: Low
Size: 3ft

Upright, airy foliage covered in tiny cute, round magenta flowers all summer long! Deer resistant and drought tolerant. Hardy to 20F.

Gymnocalycium stenopleurum v. friedrichii is a small flowering barrel cactus from Paraguay.

While the common name for these Gymno’s is Chin Cactus and I prefer to refer to them as Gymnos, the name itself, Gymnocalycium, means Naked Calyx. You can see this in the flower buds, which if you could see the side view of this flower you would see a bit of the nakedness of the calyx. But I have hidden that NSFW side view from the internets. Or you could click here to see what I’m talking about.

This cactus is also one of the ones that are irridiated to create the bright colored “Moon Cactus” that get grafted onto small Echinopsis.

The Jungle Cactus have some of the best, most delicious of the many edible cactus fruit.

Some swear by the Peruvian Cactus Apple, but you can see here that the Dragon Fruit is going to be the best.

Hylocereus is the plant and they are a sprawling, climbing cactus that can get giant old trunks and branches climbing up fences and trees alike.

I understand they make a good Margarita.

I see the succulent wreaths have been stuck and are rooting nicely! Did you pre-order? Maybe you can select yours from the photo. Hahaha! Coming soon… (November 1)

Succulent Wreaths are Now Available!

They ask us to ID their cactus, and we oblige.

Love your webpage. I hope you can help me.
My question is do you know what species this Opuntia is? It is in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.

The owner gave me a cutting and I would like to find out more about it.
Thank you,
Mike Muench

Mike,

I believe that is an Opuntia monacantha, also known as the Droopy Prickly Pear.

Peter

Pleiospilos bolusii is one of the mimicry plants, like the Lithops or Living Stones, in the Mesemb Family (Aizoaceae). You cantell these apart from the similar P. nelii because of the angular tops of the paired leaves.

Vibrant daisy-like yellow flowers.

In this picture you can see a new pair of leaves starting to emerge from the center of the other pair of leaves.

Mark and Bill were happy to share their lovely mixed Succulent pots.

Echeveria “Doris Taylor” and Graptopetalum paraguayense seem to dominate. Is that a Graptoveria “Debbie” I see in back? And the bowl is Ironstone. We don’t stock Ironstone at the store, but we can special order it in.

Sempervivums are hard to ID, but I’m going out on a limb here and say its Sempervivum “Pekinese”.

Sempervivum arachnoideum in bloom in a hand-poured sand-cast “stone” trough.

What a pleasant group of succulent pots!

Is there anything you can do to fix snail damaged succulents?

Not really. You can kill the slugs, we recommend Sluggo, and then you can wait for the plant to outgrow the damaged parts. That’s about it.

I don’t really understand what this is about.

This is a picture on the home page of Buchanan Nurseries in Houston, Texas, and maybe they sell these, maybe not, it doesn’t say. I hope they sell them. Awesome! for the Win!

Drosera capensis
Octopus Plant, Sundew

Native to South Africa
Perennial Carnivore
Sun: Partial to Full Sun
Water: Bog
Size: Low-growing, 6″ across

Leaves are covered with sticky hairs, will move like tentacles to capture and digest insects. Thrives in hot and humid conditions, but can be grown outside.

Pinguicula moctezumae
Butterwort

Native to Mexico
Carnivore

Sun: Moderate to Full Sun
Water: Bog
Size: Rosettes to 5″

Narrow, strappy leaves are sticky, trap bugs like flypaper. Purple flowers. Do not water over the leaves. Grow in peat, sand and pumice. Keep moist most of the year, but allow soil to slightly dry out in winter before watering when dormant.

Nepenthes “Exotic Lady”

Nepenthes “Miranda”
Tropical Pitcher Plant
Native to tropical Asia
Perennial Carnivore

Sun: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water: Keep Humid
Size: variable

Large hanging red-lipped pitchers. Well-drained soil should be kept moist. Hardy to 35F, keep warm in winter.