CactGuy found an interesting planter window box with an overgrown cactus in Dallas.
Far Out Flora is back in town and visiting the Bonsai collection at Lake Merritt.
Oregon Cactus Blog has some stunning deep pink Hoya flowers. I’ve never seen them that pink on a Hoya. Photoshop trick or all natural?
Lithops Stories is repotting some gorgeous Titanopsis calcarea seedlings.
Pitcher Plant Project has a large and successful pot of Sarracenia psittacina growing nicely and photogenically.
Do you have a new Cactus or Succulent Blog or Tumblr and want to share with us? Let us know all about you in the comments. Bamboos and Carnivorous Plant Blogs welcome too.
They will get up to 18″ across! We find they look best, have the best color and leaf size, with moderate sun. They can certainly handle all day sun, but for the prettiest, most photogenic performance from your “Afterglow” I recommend 3 to 4 hours of direct sunshine. They will shrink up a bit with our regular winter rains, and that’s OK. Colors range from gray-green with less sun to pure powder-white to pinks and purples in full sun.
Hi there.
I live in England, and I have been growing some cacti for about four years now, but I don’t know what they are. They have never flowered, and I was wondering if you could identify them?
I know that the one on the far left is Astophytum ornatum, and that the one one in from the right is Opuntia subulata. I have only had these for about two months.
Also, could you please give me some tips as to how to make them all flower?
Thanks very much.
Helena
Helena,
The Opuntia subulata looks likes it’s probably a O. subulata monstrose, which means it won’t get as tall, which is probably a good thing. The one on the far right could be a Cereus, but I wouldn’t be sure of the species until it blooms, which could be many years depending on the species – they often won’t bloom until they’re 6 ft. tall or more! The one on the left looks like it’s not getting enough sun, so it’s hard to tell for sure what it is, but either a Mammillaria or a Rebutia.
As for flowering, the Astrophytum looks large enough to flower, as well as the Mammillaria/Rebutia. However the other two wouldn’t bloom for many years. To help the first two along in blooming I recommend a lot of sun and a bloom food – Bone Meal, and we prefer Fish Bone Meal, works well.
Depending on where you live in England the sun could be a problem, in which case you might want to try a full-spectrum UV light.
Echeveria cante is a rare Mexican species that we’ve been growing for a few years now. They’re very popular. Like this one we’ve always only put them out for sale when they were big enough that we were certain they would be hardy enough to survive. This year we tried a crop of smaller plants, but not a lot of success. It looks like we will have to wait for them to grow bigger. Anyone have any ideas on how to keep these looking great when young?
On my front porch I have about 20 potted plants, mostly succulents and a few cacti. The spiders love it! I thought I was wining the battle but I see now I am way out numbered, if anything the spiders are happier having me clean out the old ones so they can spin new clean ones.
Any suggestions how to keep them away. my front porch just looks so ratty.
-sofia
Sofia,
Spiders are beneficial to succulents. Spiders eat pests while not being pests themselves. However sometimes the spiders can get too numerous. Clearing out webs won’t get the spiders since they’re generally hiding. If you want to catch a spider and move it safely to another location I find that a very light spray of a diluted rubbing alcohol will get them to come running out and you can then catch them and relocate them. Some people will tell you that even a light spray of alcohol will kill them, but I choose not to believe them.
Dear blog master. I enjoy the cactus jungle blog; a visit to your store is on my bucket list.
I have a question. I have a hedgehog cactus set (aka “the Crip”) and a silver torch cactus (aka “Queen Frostine”). Both have been in a constant environment for more than two years – a greenhouse which is the home of many successfully flowering succulents, many of which are cacti. After flowering well in 2012, neither flowered this year but they are both growing very well. Do you have any thoughts?
Sent from my iPad so please excuse brevity and lack of editing.
Pam
Memphis, TN
Pam,
If they’re getting good sun and other plants nearby are blooming then it’s probably a matter of nutrients. I would recommend feeding with a good organic bloom food in late winter next year.
Peter
We’ve seen this often, but this is Karen’s first Sansevieria to bloom. I probably should warn her that there will be a lot of sticky nectar as soon as the flowers on that spike open up. It can get everywhere!
Here’s a couple of recently blooming Hoyas for you. Enjoy!
Hoya kerrii has the heart-shaped leaves so fondly remembered from Valentine’s Day.
Hoya “Mathilde” is new to us and we haven’t had any ready for sale yet, but here you get a preview of the flowers.
Hoya australis I featured a few months ago, but I thought I would add it to this entry anyway. I must be in Summer Repeats!
Let me tell you something more about the Hoyas. Hoyas are in the Milkweed Family, Asclepiadaceae is the former name of the former plant family now treated as a subfamily, Asclepiadoideae, of the Dogbane Family, Apocynaceae, which also includes such famous succulents as the Pachypodiums and Adeniums! (Science!)
Or let me quote a couple o’ the books in print..
“These tropical, vining plants have rigid, glossy leaves and bowl-shaped clusters of star-shaped flowers so stiff and shiny they seem to be made of wax. Provide rich soil, regular water, warm temperatures, and sun protection. Plants thrive in bright shade and humid hothouses, blooming best when pot-bound… Water minimally during winter dormancy.”
Debra Lee Baldwin, Designing with Succulents, p.196.
“Hoya and the closely related Dischidia comprise vining plants that barely fit the definition of a succulent…. Hoya and Dischidia species are native from India through New Guinea, northern Australia, and even Southern China. Most Hoyas grow more-or-less wholly as epiphytes. As a result, even though they are from tropical regions with heavy rainfall, they have to be able to withstand considerable dryness, and so have evolved thick, succulent leaves.”
Fred Dortort, The Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World, also p.196!
Euphorbia resinifera is a beautiful little succulent spurge from Morocco. Sulphur-yellow inflorescence! And apparently a very good shot at being a localized pain killer.
Recently researchers have begun working with a toxin found in a Moroccan cactuslike plant that may be able to deliver permanent, local pain relief with a single injection.
The compound, called resiniferatoxin (RTX), works by destroying the neurons specifically responsible for inflammatory pain.
Nice!
Euphorbia sap in many Euphorbias seem to have lots of properties. Some not so good. We just got in a crop of Euphorbia antisyphilitica, which as its name would suggest is an old-timey old-west cure for the syphilis. Interesting! Also it’s common name is Candelilla, from which one could surmise that it has a waxy coating that could be used to make candles, if one were so disposed.
They’ve finally gotten around to finally finishing up with the final coat of the repaving job of 4th Street in Berkeley! That’s us, our street that is, 4th Street, or Fourth if you prefer.
So pretty. So clean and pothole-free.
You can click on the picture to enlargen it and see just how clean and pothole-free it really is. You can look right into the individual particles of pavement and see how smooth and undisturbed they are. SO if you’ve been holding off visiting our store because of the horrible street or the construction, then hold off no longer! We are free!
CactusBlog reader Elizabeth saw these cactus cupcakes and for some reason thought of us! They do look delicious.
The secret ingredient is a lot of frosting.
And the Alanna Jones Mann website this is from comes with a full, complete and fully daunting set of DIY instructions so you can make these yourself.
As I mentioned on Wednesday, I took inspiration from a recent gardening project to make a variety of house plant cupcakes. And it resulted in a whole bunch of cacti cupcake cuteness! Click below to check out a tutorial for these delectable edible house plants
How did a cactus store come to sell so many daisies, you may ask? I tells you there’s a reason for it. It may have to do with the fact that they are often low water and easy to grow here in Berkeley and perennial so they come back every year and rebloom – no need to plant new flowers every spring. Or it may have to do with the fact that cactus flowers only last a few days and people like longer lasting flowers to fit between their occasional ly flowering cactuses too.
Or maybe they just like them.
Did I mention they’re all in the Asteraceae (Aster) Family? Also known as the Sunflower Family? And they all have disk flowers?
There are a lot of different colors of Monkeyflowers, i.e. the Mimuluses are running rampant.
California wildflowers for everyone!
Mimulus “Apricot” I assume so named for the apricot color of the flowers, and not for the apricot taste of the fruit. But then what do I know.
Mimulus “Pamela” is named for someone I assume who came to the party with the name of Pamela. So says I. Oh, and Pamela is Vietnamese for Yellow.
Mimulus “Valentine” is obviously named for the Valentine region of Spain where they grow the cherry red lipstick colors so often favored on Valentine’s Day.
Mimulus “Curious Orange” is probably named after Curious George, the famous British Monkey-Boy. A lot of Mimuluses are named Georgie-something and Iassume that is trademarked so these next propagators of Orange Monkeyflowers took the Curious part of the name instead.
