Nopalea dejecta (Cactaceae) Collection: S.F. Curtis, Cuba; flowering joiont.
Artist: Eaton, Mary Emily – Date unknown – watercolor

From the Catalog of Botanical Illustrations, Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution

Plate Number: 1725
Publication: The Cactaceae Vol. 1 Pl 4, Fig 4
Client: Britton, N.L. and Rose, J.N. – Size: 11×14

Stannage Ave., Berkeley

This cactus is a Opuntia. Probably an Opuntia tuna-blanca which will get large orange flowers and large red edible cactus fruit. Tunas for everyone! Delicious.

Yesterday featured the Crestview Times-Gruff newspaper and their local story of a woman and her ancient christmas cactus. Today we feature not just a local newspaper story, but a video. Yes, a video.

Enjoy!

This video comes courtesy of the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, and this time I am not making up the name. That name is for real. I love small town papers!

Jean Zieher of Wisconsin Rapids… has a Christmas cactus she’s had for more than 40 years….

“Old Man Cactus” is a large plant, with red-toned blossoms tugging at its leaves. Blossoming plants might not seem unusual. But this one? It’s likely more than 70 years old….

While it might not be a family tree, the plant has a history. Jean’s grandmother, Katherine Schenk, originally had the plant.

And the article came with a pun! A pun! (See italics above.)

I love small town newspapers.

Crestview woman’s Christmas cactus covered in 200-plus blooms

You’ll need to click through to the Crestview Times-Picayune, or maybe it was the Crestview Daily-Reader or wait, no that wasn’t right, it was the Crestview World-Globe? Crestview News-Bulletin? Crestview Advertiser? Anyway, just click through for the picture of the old lady who has kept her mother’s heirloom christmas cactus alive for over 100 years. And the picture includes an inset of a Venus Fly Trap for some reason. I can’t find any reference in the article to the carnivorous plant in the Crestview woman’s collection, so I don’t know why the picture is there. Go ahead and take a look! You’ll see! It’s “Interesting”!

The Desert Sun has a suggestion of what to do with all your spare cactus. Make a fence! They have good ideas for using some of the taller prickly pear species, or if you prefer the more modern look they recommend a few different column cactus that will work for fences. Like the Fencepost Cactus, of course.

One first-hand account from mission days explained the cactus fence solved the problem of little suitable timber in coastal Southern California. The cactus fence was devised as a substitute. They were started by cutting paddles from well established cactus that reach the height desired. They’re inserted into the ground in a tightly spaced row where they root and grow quickly if watered. Prickly pear fences were not only perfect for containing livestock; they effectively protected the homestead from hostiles. No living thing on this Earth will penetrate a dense prickly pear hedge.

The cleanest living fences are made of fence post cactus, Pachycereus marginatus. These minimally spined upright cactus stems are ramrod straight, making the most amazing green walls. The best example I’ve ever seen was at the ethnobotanical garden in Oaxaca, Mexico where the fences are crisp and straight.

We use a giant cholla for fencing, both at the nursery and at home. Austrocylindropuntia subulata makes for a very good fence. Very spiny. Fast growing. Dangerous to try to breach. And pretty magenta flowers too. What more could you want?

We now have googly eyes. We’re so excited.

Spruce Street, Berkeley

Opuntia species with a lot of ripe red fruit.

And here’s the ripe red close-up:

Just off the Embarcadero in San Francisco

I wonder if they got any of these San Francisco Cactus from us?

The Christmas Cactus sure do know what season it is.

Astrophytum capricorne is known as the Monks Hood.

Astrophytum ornatum is the well known Bishops Cap.

Or is it vice-versa? Hard to know. Cactus are such mysterious creatures. But we do know the A. ornatum will grow to 3 feet tall, while the much less common A. capricorne will stay below 12″.

How fun is it around here on a Sunday? Why, it’s Boxing-Glove-Cactus fun. Now that’s a heck of a lot of fun. If you click through the link to the artist’s own page, you will see a secret surprise on the backside of this heavenly Boxing Glove Cactus.

Two String Jane

Oh, Boxing Glove Cactus, Why do you make me so happy?

Cacti Guy has been grafting Echinocereus onto Pereskiopsis to get them to grow faster. It’s kind of a strange sight.

And don’t confuse Cacti Guy with CactGuy who instead has a tumblr filled with photos like this one of a beautiful Manfreda.

If this blog were a tumblr blog then all I would have to do is click the link to repost this item from the tumblr-o-sphere.

But no! I have a proper blog and all so I have to do a proper entry and calculate the settings and find the links and copy and paste and credit and so on, too.

And what is this really about? Christmas Cacti! Singing!

via CactGuy.

Also from CactGuy, this post linked from BatesNursery which was linked from Woseph of a mixed pot that Joseph planted up at the nursery. Things do seem to get around on the tumblr-nets.