A Nipomo (CA) man who grows and markets edible cactus nationwide believes its value soon will be discovered by U.S. consumers as well as those working to help poverty-stricken countries.

“This plant could save the world,” said John Dicus as he gave visitors a tour of his Rivenrock Gardens.

But how should we eat this cactus that you sell?

Dicus offered visitors a taste of his own recipe for cactus salsa.

A mix of beans, corn, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and cactus chunks that look like chopped broccoli stalks, the salsa has a unique flavor but doesn’t scream “cactus.”

“Cactus should be seen as an herb, where it doesn’t really overwhelm the salsa,” he explained. “It’s been compared to green beans. It should be mixed in as an overall ingredient.

That’s practically a recipe. And what do you know, there’s a whole recipe page too. Now that’s service.

And where is this so-called Nipomo? Southern Cal of course.

Science and animals and evolution – Australian skink’s live birth – and eggs too!

Q: Whatever happened to the cacti garden at Tranquille?

OUR ANSWER: Gosh, Lyn, this question sure takes us back in time…

When Tranquille Institution closed in 1985, the inevitable happened: the gardens slowly and sadly fell into disrepair as the property sat dormant. “The once-beautiful gardens were taken over by wild grass and weeds,” said our own avid history buff and editor of The Daily News, Mel Rothenburger. “Shame really.”

And… here’s a classic photo to go with it. If that link doesn’t work, go here and do a photo search for this: I-51949.

So it turns out that Tranquille was the name of a Sanatorium. Clever. I love the provincial photo archives.

San Jose gets the news 3 years later.

Succulent plants that were so trendy during the 1970s seem to be gaining popularity again.

If you live in San Jose, now you know! For everyone else, you can be proud that you were ahead of Silicon Valley on this curve. And what’s with the passive voice anyway? The reporter should get out there and determine for themselves the truth of the proposition, or get off the can.

Any other cranky things I can add? I can add the info for an upcoming Southbay class being offered:

“Gardening with Succulents,” with master gardener Laura Balaoro and the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy… takes place from 10 a.m. to noon on Sept. 11… at the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens Visitor and Education Center, located at 438 Coleman Ave. in San Jose.

Mason County, Texas is a rugged place with cactus and cowboys and artists galore.

Sue Kaan became inspired by the cactus in the countryside outside her home…. She captures the rugged, determined-to-hold-on, feel of cactus….

The gallery is located… next to Chrissy’s Bakery.

Near Needles, CA, there is a new blue cactus mural in a VFW hall.

The U.S. Census Bureau used it as a training center for area workers earlier this year. The Audubon Society uses it as a temporary headquarters during bird counts at nearby Topock Marsh.

[caption id="attachment_7269" align="alignnone" width="360" caption="Artist Myke Burkhart works on a mural. BILL McMILLEN/The Daily News"][/caption]

“It’s a multipurpose room,” agreed Auxiliary President Deborah Blizzard.

Soon, it will look like a new facility, thanks to some major facelifting.

I spent the first part of this week in Vancouver with my daughter and design partner, Sam, and a big shopping list….

Sam and I love succulents for their architectural structure, cool colour palette and low-maintenance nature – we travel a lot, so only having to water them once or twice a month is brilliant.

My comments about this fabulous designer trip to the succulent markets of Vancouver? I would say they should have purchased more sedums. Really now, sedums are going to be the hot plant in interior decorating next year, and the whole aeonium craze is just so 2006. If you want to show how dated your palette is, just add a cabbagy echeveria to the dining room!

It’s a contest! But first, an article for you to read.

Usually these are just local stories in local papers around the world. But apparently this one made the BBC.

Rare cactus flowers after 50 years

An Agave Victorinae Reginae cactus has flowered in a UK garden after 50 years of growth.

The plant, which belongs to Barbara and John Long, recently grew to more than nine ft… according to the BBC.

I don’t know if the errors are the BBC’s or the local newspaper’s.

Now the CONTEST part:

Shall we catalog? I count 4 major errors in this excerpt alone. Add your guesses to the comments. One lucky winner correctly naming a botanical error, chosen at random, will win a free cactus greeting card from my collection of cactus greeting cards. Cactus Jungle employees not eligible, Keith.

I’ve been blogging a lot recently about the fruit of the cactus. The cactus fruit! Tunas and Dragonfruits etc.

Now the domesticated desert pitaya, from Stenocereus pruinosus, has been tracked back to original populations in the wild.

“What we found is that the people of the Tehuacan Valley are carefully selecting and cultivating cacti to produce the pitaya they want,” says Dr. Alejandro Casas, who was a member of the research team.

“They’re not attempting to produce one type of pitaya. They have a rich understanding of the cacti and are able to produce fruits with a variety of colors and tastes,” adds the expert, which is an ethnobotanist.

Pitaya are the fruit of cacti, and the main reason they were domesticated in prehistory in the first place.

“We found that the forest cacti showed more diversity in their genes than expected. It is not a case of finding a simple transition from wild to domesticated plants,” the team member argues.

“The methods of propagation of cacti by the traditional farmers, including the production of a variety of fruits, help increase the genetic diversity of the cacti. This is a crucial strategy in conserving the genetic resources of Mesoamerica,” he adds.

Science!

Unfortunately they included a Ferocactus picture with the article.

And we all know now that ferocactus fruit is small and not as delicious.

Here’s the delicious desert pitaya, not to be confused with the jungle pitaya, also known as the dragon fruit, or the mountain pitaya, also known as the cactus apple.

The Manila Times, or some such newspaper, reports the diet and beauty secrets of the local celebrities. And not to ruin the surprise, or anything, but it’s cactus.

Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, whose svelte figure and flawless skin are the envy of women half her age. Known to be a health buff, she uses exercise facilities at home to squeeze workouts in between official appointments and inspection trips. Vegetables and fruits are the mainstay of her daily fare. This diet includes a colorful exotic fruit that will soon be one of her province’s major crops: dragon fruit.

Dragon fruit, that is the fruit of the mysterious jungle cactus, Hylocereus. Unlike ferocactus, hylocereus fruit is delicious.

I love local news reports like this. It really makes no sense, and yet that’s my sense of humor for you.

Mystery!

And not really all that mysterious since it’s available in grocery stores around the world, apparently. Maybe not Iowa, but we could all go over to Plants are the Strangest People and ask.

We can’t be sure whether an exotic cactus from Mexico might be growing in the Queensland outback, but if Bob Katter was a scrub bull, you’d be wary of him, fearing he’d been grazing on mescaline.

I don’t know what this means. I often have trouble translating Aussie into English. The article is about an election, and the fate of the independents. And the lead to the article is the cactus metaphor above.

Mystery!

A few months ago I blogged about some Shoe Cactus, women’s shoes that had been reprurposed as cactus planters.

Broadsheet at Salon has finally gotten ahold of one and it turns out it’s an art piece by Rachel Mahlke,

…to “show that there is danger and pain behind plastic representations of beauty” and to comment on American conceptions of femininity — but these creations are open to all sorts of feminist perspectives. Maybe you see a powerful juxtaposition of natural beauty with unnatural beauty standards, or a quirky fusion of crafty, D.I.Y. feminism with sex worker activism.

…Some will thrill at the idea of a stripper shoe bearing “baby aloe plants with serrated ‘teeth’ along their fleshy green leaves.” (Vagina dentata, anyone?!) Others — like those friends of mine with copies of “Carmen Electra’s Aerobic Striptease Collection” — will identify more with the sweet and feminine look of this platform planted with a pastel succulent and an airy bed of light-green moss.

Cactus!

This has come out of nowhere. It’s going to be hot today and tomorrow. Mid to high 80s at the coast hot. So here’s the thing. Your plants here in the Bay Area aren’t used to this right now. The cool summer so far, and the lack of a warming trend leading up to this, could cause problems for sensitive plants in all-day sun.

You’ll want to water today and maybe even tomorrow. And watch for sun and heat damage. Three days ago it was a high of 59, so a 30 degree swing can be a problem. Oh, the humanity.

This has been your public-service-announcement-bureau with today’s public service announcement. You may now resume your regular websurfing.

Local News! From the Muscatine (IA) Journal comes this lonely tale of a cactus in a front yard. It’s the perfect story for a Saturday morning.

Take a drive down Muscatine’s Fifth Street and you’ll see flowers, houseplants and even a cactus bed. What next? Cornstalks in the desert?

…Barb Phillips’ Muscatine home… features a large bed of effortlessly flourishing cacti, creating a sharp contrast to the colorful flowers and soft-leafed plants that are more typical of Iowa. Photo Cynthia Beaudette

Looks like Barb keeps her low-growing opuntia well trimmed. Very little is hanging over the planter edge into the sidewalk.

This was going to be part of a radio ad starting next week, but the local radio station just switched formats, as of this weekend. So all is lost. Except this excerpt, which I upload for you:

[mp3player width=300 height=50  file=”/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/california_native_plants.mp3″ name=California Native Plants]

The video version was blogged back here.

And it’s all because we’re having a Cal. native plant sale starting Sunday, August 15th. Here’s the ad going in the SF Chronicle this Sunday. Look for it in the Home and Garden section.

On Cape Cod, no less!

Bill Hayes of Chatham created a ‘lawn’ using a variety of succulents, lavender, thyme, ornamental rocks and other drought-tolerant plants.

That’s quite beautiful! And if I seem surprised it’s because I’ve been to Cape Cod. In the winter. So I find this a bit more lush than usual for that area.

Events! Attend them all!

Thursday: Dylan Hannon, curator of conservatory collections for the Huntington Botanical Gardens, will lecture on wildflowers, cactuses and the natural history of the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Sponsored by the Southern California Horticultural Society. 7:30 p.m. $5. Friendship Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles. (818) 567-1496.

Apparently it’s the week to be in or near Los Angeles, because there are all of these events happening.

Thursday: Paul Isley of Rainforest Flora in Torrance will discuss tillandsias, better known as air plants, pictured above. 2:30 p.m.Free. No reservations required. Friends’ Hall, Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. (626) 405-2100.

So Thursday is a day for the Huntington, clearly. But Arcadia is must stop for the weekend, friend.

Saturday and Sunday: Hundreds of plants will be on display at the annual intercity show sponsored by the Cactus and Succulent Societies of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Gabriel Valley. Exotic plants typically found in deserts, jungles and mountain highlands will be featured. Seminars will cover how to grow cactuses and succulents and how to landscape with drought-resistant plants. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Included with admission of $3 to $8 to the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 350 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. (626) 821-3222.

I don’t know why I bother. You’re not going to any of these, are you? I didn’t think so.

Alright, how about this event in Hollywood: Tinker Bell is going to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 11:30 a.m. Now that promises to be really special if she shows up.

Apparently it’s been in the works for a few years. Well past due, considering her long and productive career in so many of Hollywood’s greatest classic films, like, ummm, Peter Pan…. and what else, hmmm, Peter Pan…. Hook too.

The Big Cactus comes to Boston.

I vote for “The Green Monster.”

It appears there is a new French Cactus Forum.

And this is their logo:

That’s one hot and tired cactus. Must be in the South of France.

Some of the stories we publish here on the Cactus Blog have international import (not many, I didn’t say most, but some) and some stories are primarliy of local interest. Like when someone’s agave blooms and the local paper prints a whole article about it. I love those stories! This story is also of the somewhat local variety.

Geri Maitlen’s four-part entry took second place in the “large” category at the Rock Island County Fair.

Congratulations Geri.

I wonder where Rock Island County is? The paper is the Quad City Times. To the google! And the answer is…. Read More…

Feed for the cattle?

A paper by John Kang’ara and Josiah Gitari, animal nutritionists at KARI, concludes that Opuntia species — the prickly pear or paddle cacti — have extreme tolerance to drought and remain succulent and easily digestible even in times of extreme water shortages, which makes them an excellent source of water and nutrition in harsh conditions.

They found that during a severe drought in 2008–2009, farmers who fed their cattle the cactus paddles (the large, leaf-like parts) lost none of their cattle to drought.

Meanwhile, some farmers, such as the Masai pastoralists in Laikipia North refused to use the cactus as feed and even pleaded with the government to eradicate what they consider to be an invading weed.

I remember reading about in Australia how certain very spiny opuntia escaped and naturalized, and the cattle would eat them during drought and be harmed by the spines. I guess you need a low-spine variety for cattle, or remove the spines yourself before feeding them.

It isn’t anytime soon, so I wouldn’t get too excited. Plus, they don’t have the money to hold the festival yet, so maybe you want to contribute?

But most of all, it’s in Santa Cruz!

First Cactus Festival set for November

The first annual Cactus Festival, to be called the Festival del Nopal, is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 21 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. The event is designed to honor the prickly pear cactus, a staple of Latin American people that appears on the Mexican flag.

The Santa Cruz City Council agreed unanimously Tuesday to sponsor the festival in name only, declining a request to give $7,000 to the event during a time of fiscal restraint. But council members said they would support fundraising efforts for the event, which is being organized by the Viva Ozava! Guelaguetza Planning Committee, whose annual celebrations have drawn more than several thousand visitors to Harbor High’s football field.

Ticket prices are expected to be $10 for adults and $8 for children. Anyone interested in volunteering or fundraising for the Cactus Festival can contact Councilman Tony Madrigal.

I would like to also honor the nopal. I wonder what I would get if Cactus Jungle helped to sponsor this festival? More nopal recipes to share on the blog? A taste of a really delicious prickly pear pie? Cuttings from rare and unusual Opuntia?

Come back in November and let’s find out together!

And the local news is there to cover it.

Carlie Barnhart’s flowering agave plant (Agave utahensis) is blooming for its first and only time in the middle of her cactus patch in Cooke Canyon. (Barb Owens/Daily Record)

If the local news covered every agave bloom in Berkeley…. Oh the articles they would have.

What would Martha think?

According to Martha Stewart, quoted in the post directly below this one, you’re supposed to lay out your succulents in a triangle.

What I remembered is her cacti and succulent garden for its size, plant diversity and very personal design. To provide good drainage, a must-have for cacti, Sandy built a semicircle mound, added several large, attractive and locally purchased rocks to help keep the soil in place, and with little previous knowledge of cacti varieties, set out to collect the plants that would be set into the garden alongside the indoor-grown cacti from her previous home in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Oh no! They went with a Semicircle!

And I absolutely fell in love with several types (of tropical plants), such as cycads, agaves and aloes….

I suggest a visit to a great tropical garden such as… the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Arranging succulents in a triangle, with the tall plants in back and the little ones in front, lets each plant how off its unique form and texture. (Photo: Richard Felber)

Interesting how certain she is that succulents look best in a triangle. Hmmm.

A cactus grower wins an award and makes the news in Derbyshire, UK.

Brian Fearn watering his huge stock of plants

Receiving the award from Alan Titchmarsh

This month he was given his first official recognition for the research he has carried out for more than 50 years.

At the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, in London, he received the Brickell Award 2010 for excellence in plant conservation, following his study of the plant genus Lithops, commonly known as “flowering stones”.

Brian, of Old Hackney Lane, was presented with the prize by gardener and television presenter Alan Titchmarsh.

Sweet! Can we get an award for our 10 years worth of trying to plant cactus in Berkeley clay?

The Citroen Cactus Car looks like it is finally going to come to market, and they’re creating a whole new brand for it, although the name is secret right now. Sweet!

I’m gonna throw out a guess here – they’re going to call it the Jouiellet Cactus.

The craze hits Fullerton with the Giant Succulent and Cactus show co-hosted by the Orange County Cactus and Succulent Society and Fullerton Arboretum.

This is the show to find the odd species. This is the show to ask the odd questions. This is the largest show ever according to the press release. And no pinching — you’re going to have to pay for your picks. Show starts Friday, July 23–25. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m daily.

The courtyard of Nancy Field’s Laguna Woods home features a vertically mounted succulent pole.
SAM GANGWER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Hope to see you there. Well, not really; I hate OC. But I’m sure the show will be great.