We here at Cactus Blog want to help you with your holiday shopping. So here’s today’s what to buy.

It’s the Wild Republic Audubon Cactus Wren with authentic sounding sounds.

I can’t resist the siren call of the cactus wren; can you?

My brother wouldn’t let me post photos of his robots before, but now that they’re in a gallery show and the photos have been publicly posted on facebook, I figure it’s OK. I hope.

I’ve been reading the real estate ads recently to see how far the value of our house has dropped, and I noticed a strange thing – the ads that feature gardens out front of the house do not get repeated week after week while the ads that feature only interior shots do.

From this I have determined that gardeners make better home owners.

Do with this anecdotal knowledge what you will, but be gentle, please.

Since the plural of anecdote isn’t data, I’ll grab a whole mess of anecdotes, way more than just “plural,” before claiming I have insight into the economy.

So here’s another anecdote for you to ponder without any conclusions drawn, until the end of the anecdote that is.

So I was sitting around at Cafe Trieste watching my friend Tara draw kittens for a show going up in a gallery in SF next April when I saw the barista slam an espresso drink and then he ate a slice of prickly pear fruit!

From this I deduce that cactus are going to be the next big addition to the local locavore movement. Get your cactus now while the gettings good, before they’re all eaten up. Also next spring, we’re going to start carrying organic vegetable starts for all you local Bay Area locavores.

Oh my god that is adorable. It is handmade by littletowheads and available on Etsy.com. I don’t know how to contact the artist, but I would love to carry these at the nursery.

Oy, that’s cute. Go here to see more pictures, and to place your order now.

I was sitting at Peet’s coffee drinking a classic Berkeley drink, the grande double decaf whipless soy-milk macchiato freddo with chocolate sprinkles, when I overheard a couple talking about the holidays and the drought and saying they were going to save money by buying drought-appropriate holiday gifts this year to save money.

2009 is shaping up to be the Year of the Cactus.

Actually, I prefer the whipped cream on all my soy-milk freddos.

Here I am googling random phrases, trying to help you out with your holiday shopping, and what do I find but a stainless cactus bowl. I don’t know what about this bowl makes it a cactus bowl, other than the fact that they put a cactus in the bowl for the photograph. But what a cactus it is. It is a golden barrel. Echinocactus grusonii. Nice choice.

These beautiful cactus bowls are crafted from highest-quality stainless steel, and are available in brushed or polished finishes. Ideal for miniature plants or a stylish way to store loose change.

Oh, and did I mention that you need to be in Great Britain to order? I forgot that part? Sorry.

Cards Direct offers this lovely cactus card for the holidays.

They’re not cheap, but they are made out of papery goodness.

This is not strictly cactus related, but it is in a desert, so, you know, close enough, because, you know, Wow.

Petroglyphs, Aïr Mountains Mountains, Niger, 1999

Photograph by George Steinmetz

These 2,500-year-old petroglyphs, portraying figures with tulip-shaped heads and hourglass bodies, mark an ancient human presence in the Sahara desert’s Aïr Mountains.

It’s Tokidoki’s Cactus Friend Carina!

She’s so cute and pettable. Why hasn’t anyone found any LOLcarina’s? It’s a crime.

Hap built a succulent labyrinth up in Napa, above Lake Berryessa.

I’ll put together more pictures and info later, but here’s a nice photo of the plant layout on the freshly laid pattern to start.

Seth looks pretty busy out there.

Golden Barrel Cactus: Enhancing The Desert Landscape Of Your Home

I like that. It doesn’t make me want to read the article that goes with it, but I enjoy the headline still.

Here we have a lovely photo from the Velvet Garden in LA.

They do good work with succulents. Very tasteful. In fact, I used to live in LA, and I can say that they are more tasteful with succulents than anyone else I know in LA. That’s kind of an odd thing for me to say. Maybe I should rethink publishing this entry.

I don’t know what to make of this. It costs $9.99 and completes our Canadian theme for the day.

Arsa Canadian Flaxseed with Cactus
Price $9.99
17.63 oz.
In Stock ships in 3 business days.

Description
* Herbal Supplement.
* With Omega 3, 6 and 9.
* Exportation product.
* Made in Mexico.

This is very exciting news. You can now get your Mexican cactus complete with Canadian flaxseed in one convenient pill. I think we can thank NAFTA for this most exciting new product, now on shelves everywhere. I wonder if you can make nopales con huevos with flaxseed with this product?

In Canada, someone has set up a cactus cam on their Euphorbia, which would make it a Euphorbia Cam, but whose counting.

This is supposed to update every 10 minutes, but if not, then you can go to the Canadian Government Cheese website to see the original.

If you live in California, Vote No on Prop 8

Well now, that’s nifty.

I don’t know who took the photo. It was sitting on the desktop of the computer.

[Update: Lawn and Photo credit: San Marcos Growers.]

Seems like a good drought-tolerant meadow solution.

Well, it turns out that you can leave your succulents outdoors this winter after all! Let DIY tell you how.

Led by the russet-colored (Sedum) ‘Autumn Joy,’ the many varieties of drought-tolerant sedum are wonderful choices in the fall garden, providing blooms from pink to red with green, bronze, or variegated foliage. Instead of cutting them back after frost, many gardeners leave these tough succulents standing for winter interest.

Hardy to zone 3, depending on variety.

From greenwaredesign at Etsy comes this nice dish of succulents.

It’s a handcrafted bowl for only $40. Very nice.

I wonder what that backdrop to the photo is?

If you’re in the UK you can buy this cactus seed grow kit.

I love the packaging. very nicely done. And at £12.75 it’s a bargain. However, the instructions and growing media they have in the pack is nothing we would recommend for growing cactus from seeds. Maybe England is so very different from California.

Then again, they do say:

This is a novelty gift and must be regarded as such.

Someday we’re going to put together a seed box kit too.

I wish I had something to say. Wouldn’t it be nice if my blog had lots of good things that I have to say? That would be good.

Instead, I usually like to ramble a bit. Like today I had a customer who asked what they could use as a screen for a bright light their neighbor had installed right in their window, and I suggested bamboo of course, but also Myrica or Fremontodendron would form nice tall thick shrubs that could block a neighbors light.

Also, I had a customer want me to pot some sedums into a pot without drainage. We don’t recommend this, but we will do it for them. We’ll put charcoal at the bottom, and then we tell them they have to water more often. This is counterintuitive. More often, but a lot less water, so it doesn’t collect at the bottom. Even then most of them will kill the plants in a pot without drainage. Today we had some inexpensive Ikea pots brought in.

And then there’s the fact that I have a sinus infection. Oy, the agony.

So you can see how I like to ramble a bit here and there. Maybe if I had a point, it would make more sense.

This picture is from alibaba.com. I don’t know where to find the info on this on the website, just the picture.

It’s a nice green bottle with chamfered corners, but the white twist top is a little over the top.

Who cares! It’s a “Cactus Backscratcher” made from real cactus, spines included.

I especially like the small leather loop at the end. However, the eyes do seem to follow you around the room.

via Gizmodo.

St Louis, Missouri

It’s the Muddy River String Band playing their ever popular “Cactus Jam”.

Download here.

And what’s most remarkable is if you listen closely, they’re actually singing a recipe for cactus jam, both the cactus type of cactus jam and the musical jam type of cactus jam. Oy, the irony.

Re: Dying bamboo!!
Hi Peter (and everyone)!When I called about fungus on my bamboo last week, you said to spray it with a warm water/baking soda mix and put a fan on it. So far, no good and it looks like it might be on its last leg. Could you let me know if there’s any way to save it?Thank you!
Rebecca

Rebecca,

You can try a more aggressive fungicide. Neem Oil might work as an organic solution sprayed on the plant and drenched in the soil at a 1% solution. Or if you want to go synthetic and a lot more aggressive,  there are many on the market, though since we don’t use them we can’t really recommend which one to use.

Hap

And a followup after the break…
Read More…

Mudpuppy on Etsy is selling ceramic vases for your succulents.

Check out the dog about to eat the succulents, too.

I do think the plants should be planted a little higher though, for aesthetic reasons, you know.

Cactus Biotech Announces Improved Milk Production in Cows From
Company's Cactus Cattle Feed
Results Expected to Allow Company to Make Key Marketing Claims