Cactus Blog 

Sempervivum “Black” is more brown, but in more sun will get darker and look almost black, in the same way that my brown hair looks black. But is still brown.

Loves the rocky rock gardens, hardy down to 10F or a little below with some snow cover. Rosettes get about 6″ across with root run. Flowers are those little 5-pointed stars so beloved of plants in the Crassula Family (Crassulaceae). And… they’re white!

Sempervivum means “Live Forever” since they send out lots of chicks and the grouping can keep surviving long after the mother plant has died.

From Epicurious.

Ingredients
4 prickly pears, peeled
Ice
4 ounces tequila
1 1/2 ounces triple sec
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
Coarse-grained salt for rimming (optional)
Lime slices for garnish (optional)

That does seem like the basic set of ingredients for a cactus margarita. For sugar, I would use agave syrup. You’ll have to click through for the directions on how to peel a prickly pear and what to mix together too.

While Oregon Cactus Blog has gone shopping, they’ve left behind some Euphorbias to enjoy. It’s been 10 days now, do you think they’re back yet?

How odd! I thought this was a cactus blog, with succulents and california natives and other assorted drought tolerant plants thrown in for good measure.

Don’t click this at work, but today apparently is World Naked Gardening Day. Just thought you should know. via Thomas, who I assume is out naked gardening today.

These are pretty nice.

I like!

Cactus Lamps by Slamp via Trend Hunter. The 5 versions range in cost from $216 for the tabletop (Ferocactus) model to $816 for the oversized (Echinopsis terscheckii) floor lamp.

I’ve been getting tired of people asking for help without thanking us, or even signing their emails. This one, for instance. Hap is more forgiving and will respond by adding the persons email address as the greeting. So I’ve decided to be the email manners police and will be adding proper thank you’s and signatures to their email to us as if they had written it themselves – see below.

Hi. We’ve recently acquired some cactus babies from our neighbors mothering plant. Unfortunately they do not know what cactus plant it is, considering they just recently moved, but they told us we could have the little ones around it. We took some of the little ones.

We were wondering if perhaps you could help identify them.

[Thank you for your help,
chickadeesan]

Dear chickadeesan,

You have babies of Agave americana. This is one of the classic large agave that eventually can be eight to ten feet tall and twelve feet in diameter, so make sure to plan accordingly. They can of course be kept smaller by keeping them potted or using bamboo barrier in the ground to sort of bonsai them…

These are nice century plants, just make sure to wash your hands if you get their sap on you, it can cause a rash. Agave are sort of toxic until they are fire roasted for either agave syrup or making mescal and tequila.

Take care,

Hap

Pardee Street
Opuntia linguiformis

Truly the easiest form of blogging is to copy something from someone else. This one comes from Atrios.

Wednesday Crustacean Blogging
The giant isopod.

Awesome!

From the Staunton News Leader comes a recommendation that Virginia gardeneners plant more succulents.

You’ll find them peeking from the cracks in stone walls, decorating the corners of old barns, tumbling out of crumbling containers. Succulents grow just about anywhere and last just about forever, says Chris Lockhart, co-owner of the Staunton Plant Co.

The huge selection and easy maintenance of these sturdy plants makes them a good choice for Virginia gardeners, Lockhart said, since we have weather that’s often unreliable: cold, then hot; rainy then dry. He said one particular succulent is so hardy that it’s used for “green roofs.” The living roof absorbs water and also deflects the harsh son, while it flourishes and spreads in the blazing sun or bitter cold.

That is so true. I think he’s talking about all the different Sedums and Sempervivums that can survive on a roof in Virginia. But Staunton does get cold, regularly getting in the single digits and occasionally below 0F and about 40 inches of rain. So there are a lot of succulents that won’t survive there. Plus I would guess they’re pretty humid in the summer. In fact, I wonder which succulents besides the sedums and sempervivums that Chris is recommending? I should read further…. Clicking through to the 2nd page of the article leads me to his list. And in fact his list includes Sedums and Sempervivums and Portulacas, all fine choices.

Staunton seems like it could be a nice place, what with the cygnets being born there.

Hello,

I purchased 2, large black bamboo plants from you in August of 2009. I planted both of them in separate large containers, and they are in our back patio space. The space gets moderate sun and is quite windy. We live in San Francisco (in Noe Valley).

I’ve been fertilizing them 3 times/year with the fertilizer I bought with the plants, and watering them regularly. They’ve both looked great so far – they sent up new shoots last year. I just fertilized them for the spring a few weeks ago – although not with the full “dose” you suggested because I was running low on the fertilizer. One of the plants looks great and is sending up new shoots. But I just noticed that the leaves on the other plant are all dried up. The leaves haven’t started falling off yet, and they haven’t changed color, but the plant doesn’t look good. I’ve started watering it more regularly, thinking maybe it wasn’t getting enough water. But I’m wondering if there’s anything else I should be doing.

Thanks,
Aimee

Aimee,

Can you send us a couple of photos of the cranky one? It sounds like it may be that it got “crisped” on a hot-sunny-windy day when it just didn’t have enough moisture in the soil to replace what it was loosing to evaporation from the leaves… you can spray the leaves with water and it may help restore any that haven’t totally died… hopefully it can recover. The photos should help me let you know what other action to take. You can also give the stressed plant some liquid kelp it acts as a vitamin shot and growth stimulant.

Take care,
Hap

More after the break, with a picture of the crispy bamboo… (more…)

We now carry cast iron army men, and peeps. We must be idiots.

The Tampa Tribune publishes weird larva pictures.

The cactus moth larva often burrows into the cactus pad to feed on the flesh. Dripping ooze on the pad’s surface indicates a hungry caterpillar inside.

This came up in the course of a question from a reader:

Q: I found caterpillars in prickly pear in the cactus garden in the back yard. I looked them up and found pictures — they are definitely the larva of these cactus moths, Cactoblastis cactorum. What should I do to control them? Can I control them? What else will they destroy?

A:Unfortunately, this invasive insect is fairly common along Florida’s coasts. My advice to homeowners with only a limited number of cactuses under attack is to control the pest by removing the eggsticks by hand….

Click through for the rest of the answer, and a picture of the cactus moth’s eggstick.

Is this not the most exciting post of the day? No? Then you have no sense of the drama of the cactus moth’s mysterious eggstick.

Entomologists could wax lyrical for hours on the fascinating development of the Cactus Moth’s eggstick. Here, in fact, give a listen to an entomologist. Alright, so that wasn’t an actual recording of an entomologist at work, but rather the USDA’s scientific study of the Cactus Moth’s eggsticks.

Science!

Hi Guys,
Timber! It just fell over from one day to the next. I guess it got too heavy for its stalk? Now what? Any tips on how to save it, and/or move it to a new container or directly into the ground?

Thank you!
Kelly

Kelly,

Ouch! You have a couple choices: Repot in a larger container and plant deeper, with several inches of the stem under fresh cactus/succulent soil, (do the same in the ground) or cut it off and try and re-root it, though it is late in the season to root winter growers like Aeonium (they root best in fall and winter since they are actively growing, this time of year they are starting to shut down for their normal summer dormancy period), but you should be able to as long as you place it somewhere with afternoon shade so it only gets four to six hours of sunlight (you need to confuse it so it doesn’t go dormant while it is trying to root. The stump left behind may or may not resprout.

Good luck,

Hap

Echinopsis spachiana’s stems will get to about 6 feet tall, with a few branches. The big white flowers get to about 6 feet across, or so it seems. Maybe a little bit less.

Found in Argentina; you might want to know that while the flowers are white, the “floral tubes are very hairy” according to Anderson.

Honestly, I’m not absolutely sure about the ID on this as it is very similar to E. thelegonoides and E. thelegona. Anyone have an opinion?

Although sometimes we’re not able to help.

I need some help or suggestions. Have had this cati for over 10 years..has been in same window same amount of time. Has grown to about 5 ft tall and just one long cacti…maybe a couple small buds on side. We moved and someone places the cacti in the corner in the dark part of house. Now since we found it ..it has looked like it has dried up and fell over in half…..can it be saved.

Nancy

Nancy,

I’m sorry to have to inform you that your Euphorbia trigona has passed on to a better world. There is nothing there left to save.

Peter

I saw this succulent in an accupuncture store in Chinatown, and was hoping you could tell me what it is, and also help me find one. It was about 3 feet tall. Any help would be appreciated. I tried to research it on the internet but couldnt find anything.

Rudy

Rudy,

The plant is an Aloe plicatilis, also known as a Fan Aloe. We do have them in stock in a range of sizes at the nursery.

More info from the SF Botanic Garden. And more Aloe Plicatilis info on our website.

Peter

Yes, that really is the common name for the Echinocereus pentalophus. Sexist? Probably. I think we should call it Wrestler’s Fingers. Non-gender specific. And spiny fingers would be good for a wrestler to have.

The UC Master Gardeners of Napa County present “Down the Garden Path,” an educational tour of members’ gardens in and around upper Napa Valley on May 15. The tour is designed to show how Master Gardeners develop and care for their own gardens using University of California research based horticultural practices.

This self-guided tour of seven gardens includes both large and small gardens that feature educational examples of water-wise and succulent gardens… There will be docents and educational information at each location.

Sunday, May 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m…. call 707-253-4147.

North Dakota’s Peace Garden is getting the rest of their cactus after all. The Republicans fought it to the end, but they lost because everyone loves a cactus garden!

Some North Dakota (Republican) lawmakers are a bit prickly…

The budget includes $242,000 to expand a conservatory at the International Peace Garden.

The garden already houses part of a huge cactus collection. The expansion would allow the Peace Garden to house the rest of the cacti….

The final budget kept the cactus… Hazen Sen. Randy Christmann objected.

That Randy, he’s always objecting. First he objects to Peace Gardens and Cactus, next thing you know he’s objecting to School Dances on Friday nights.

Click through for all the pretty photos on Flickr.

1. First up we have a peachy Echinopsis with not one but two flowers from Annibel.
2. Secondly, we see there was a “Happy Cactus” for Cinco de Mayo. I’m not happy about it at all. From Shaire.
3. Lastly we find a round of cactus and succulents on a bench from Robert Miles Design. From the left going clockwise, Mammillaria, Parodia, Espostoa, Ferocactus, Astrophytum, Echeveria, Pachyveria(?), Pleiospilos.

That was it for flickr today, nothing else new there. I wish people would upload more photos.

One of our classic giant pink cactus flowers. We call these Echinocereus grandiflora Hybrids “Tropical Pink” or was it “Bright Pink”? I forget. But it is a very big flower.

Echinocereus adustus is a very small plant with a very big very red very very flower. The flowers range from pink to orange to red, and this is the reddest one we’ve seen.

These are generally solitary, or else they are freely clumping, depending on the subspecies. They will grow to about 8″ tall. Such a big boy!

An eco-friendly fundraiser features succulents in South Beach.

Who knew we were so trendy now! Awesome! (truth be told, I am feeling a wee bit trendy now)

Baseball is producing a series of baseball-related cactus statues, or toys if you will. Really. I don’t know what to say about this. I love baseball. I love cactus. And yet….

Are these for real? The photo is from NBC News, so I guess so.

Here’s a closeup.

No, this is not good.

Platycerium superbum is not exactly uncommon, but it’s also not the most common of the Staghorns. These epiphytes can be grown outside in the Bay Area but we prefer them inside. They do well with a bit of extra humidity, so mist away, but don’t overwater as they are totally drought-tolerant. Let the shield and backing dry out.

These will grow quite enormous given the chance. 6 feet across? Check. 3 feet tall? Sure, why not.

And bigger in habitat – they’re from Australia, so they have to be big enough to withstand a kangaroo attack.

What’s most amazing about these is the the size of the shield itself. The fronds are also quite big, but the single nest-like shield spreads very wide.

Hardiness: Low 20s.

Size: 6 feet

Habitat: Eastern Australian Subtropical Forests

Light: Light Shade to Full Shade

Water: Low, some misting

Propagation: From spores, or divisions.

Henie sends along photos of a garden we designed and installed a while back. I think it’s been almost 2 years.

That is a ridiculously bloomful Delosperma. Yowza.

And a not-quite-as-ridiculously bloomful Aloe striata.