They make recycled cactus in Italy.

“I used to make my cactus with all stuff even junk I can get around.”
Ilaria Chiani aka “Ilaria Chiani Cactus”

Those are really nice. Now you know what to get me for my birthday.

Sesame Street video via Plants are the Strangest People

We will be closed today for the July 4th holiday. Please barbecue safely, and don’t use fireworks because it scares the bejeezees out of Benjamin.

I came home sick today, so not a lot of blogging I think.

I don’t even have an extra picture lying around right now.

Oy!

I found cactus pastilles at the new Nordic House that moved in across the street.

These are the top cactus cakes on google images.

Read More…

I’m not suggesting you purchase this banner image of cactus for your next banner project, for 14 credits from istockphoto, but I am letting you know that it’s available for you, when you do need it. When you do find a use for it, a banner project that just calls out for a cactus theme and you don’t want to create your own graphics and would rather purchase some clipart online.

Yay!

It’s a log faced planter. I don’t know anything more than that. As usual, I don’t know where Hap found the picture, and I’m sure I prefer not to know.

Enjoy!

Converse Memorial Library (Malden, MA)

Sempervivums spilling out!

The Ledger in Lakeland Florida has this to say:

Among the finest succulents for windowsills are Echeveria species and hybrids.

Now I suppose we could argue about what is meant by the phrase, “among the finest” but that would be pedantic. Leave us to say that within a broad range of possible finest’s, Echeverias could be on a conceivable list. Like this one.

Echeveria pulidonis would certainly make a good windowsill plant, and I would put it on my list of the top 2000 finest succulents for windowsills, so sure – it qualifies!

from WOAI in San Antonio, TX and not from Arizona.

Anyway, Nancy Cavender-Garcia says of this photo,

SAN ANTONIO – The shape and color of this flower makes for a beautiful image. The petals create lovely repetitive patterns framing the flower. The yellow color circles the red center making our eye flow to the center. The flower is centered in the image, yet the bug puts it just a little off-center. The photographer used a short depth of field that caused the green of the cactus to be out of focus and a soft background for the flower. Very nice image. Barbara Matchey, Copyright 2010 Barbara Matchey

Like the Agave in the post below, Sempervivums also bloom once and die, having propagated with many babies around the mother plant usually long before the dreaded bloom spike comes.

Kym Pokorny with The Oregonian has decided to try to save her Sempervivums from an untimely bloom and death cycle by chopping off the blooms. Somehow I don’t think this is going to work, but good luck, Kym!

Dani sends along this photo via Bump of a sled she saw in Maine last week. She did not pay $50 for it.

A list of night blooming cactus from the Lompoc Record.

Night-blooming cactus

The first royal member, also known as night-blooming cereus or Honolulu-queen (Hylocereus undatus), may climb 25 feet….

The next queen is also known as serpent cactus, snake cactus or night-blooming cereus (Nyctocereus serpentinus), and is native to Mexico and Central America. Its spiny stems may flop, twist and turn for up to 10 feet…

The third queen (Selenicereus grandiflorus) is native to Jamaica and Cuba and is widely planted in tropical America, where it scales trees via aerial roots….

Wooly torch (Pilocereus leucocephalus) forms unusual, blue–green columns covered in white, hairy wool. Its white flowers attract bats in its native eastern Mexico and Central America….

Creeping devil (Stenocereus eruca) slinks as far as 20 feet along the ground, armed with nasty pink or yellow spines….

Also look for Dutchman’s pipe (Epiphyllum oxypetalum). In the garden, Dutchman’s pipe is best in filtered light and planted in a hanging basket…

This is a handy list you should cut out and laminate and hang on your refrigerator door.

Adansonia digitata. Photograph by Tom Schwabel

“Baobab trees frame a serene view of night skies in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. Some species of baobab trees can live for a thousand years—potentially reaching a stunning height of 80 feet (25 meters) and a diameter of 40 feet (12 meters).” © 2010 National Geographic Society.

While we don’t grow any Baobabs in Berkeley, we do grow their relatives, the Bombax and the Chorisia (Kapok), in the Bombacoideae family.

A maidenhair fern growing out of the bottom of a Carole’s rhipsalis pot.

from Amazon.

I don’t think these need any comments – they really speak for themselves. And yet… I think I have to comment on the quality of the glaze, the satisfying colors of the sunset along the mountain ridgeline, the functional nature of this mug-like cactus boot, the purity of the shine of the leather.

Looks sweet. But if you click through, the expression of the guy eating the candy makes it look a bit more tart than sweet.

She traveled to what was then known as British Somaliland, now a semi-independent republic of Somalia. I’ll let reader Stijn tell the rest of the story (from comments):

Edith Cole (1859-1940) was a English lady that lived in Woodhay, Hampshire, England. Her father has done good business that enabled to familie live a prosperous life in wealth.
She was befriended with mrs. E. Lort-Philips, which was the wife of a explorist/big game shooter.
In early 1895 they (Miss Edith Cole, mr. and mrs. Lort-Philips, mr. Aylmer) went to Berbera, British Somaliland. From there they made a 3 month expedition in the Golis Mountains.
During that trips, the men collected animals (they shot them firts that is), while the ladies collected butterflies and plants. One of these is Edithcolea grandis, named after Edith Cole.

I’m currently collecting info about this expedition and it’s members. I’ve some letters, articles and maps that help me reconstruct the expedition.

Here’s the plant in question, named for Edith:

That is some flower.

…Rain, that is. I swear we might as well be living in Seattle.

Well, that was another easy blog post. It’s Raining! Yay!

OK, so maybe I should suggest some indoor activities to while away the time. I suggest you comb your 70s orange shag carpeting. Or maybe you could make a toasted cheese sandwich in your toaster oven. I know! How about building a marshmallow castle.

It’s a high-end cactus chair from Denger Cengiz. Available at Voos in New York for more than $2k each. Woohoo!

Echinocactus grusonii, also known as the Mother-in-Law’s Seat. You’d need to be pretty careful with the watering.

Oops, I forgot to blog today. Here have a hummingbird babies in a nest photo.

Record cold temps coming all week long, so you may want to cover your basil plants and bring in any Pachypodiums you brought out for the so-called summer.

I blogged some of these recently. Here’s more cactus shoes.

Here’s a list of activities I recommend on these rainy days.

1. Lift up all your potted cacti to make sure they’re draining.

2. Make a paper cactus hat. I would recommend old newspaper (if you still read the newspaper) and gumdrops.

3. Pull weeds out of the plants that are sitting on your covered deck. Use long tweezers to get between the spines.

4. Have a cactus margarita.

5. Plant a mixed succulent bowl for your dining room table.

6. Buy a 9-drawer cactus-inlay dresser.

7. Hide under the covers with your whippet.

8. Enjoy the English Countryside.

Harrison Street Succulent Garden

It’s not often you find people planting succulents in such a harsh urban environment, in the Mission, right there out on the sidewalk.

Nice job!