Cactus Blog

No, I’m not posting any scenes from the Sonoran Desert, for crying out loud. I live in California - we post scenes of the Mojave Desert, and sometimes the Great Basin.

It’s the Seattle PI telling you how to make your own little Sonoran Desert scene in a pot.

Don’t let the lack of eaves stop you from enjoying the Sonora at your home. Start with a low bowl-shaped container. Make sure there are plenty of drainage holes and fill the container with cactus soil (available at most garden centers). Now for the real fun: Shop for cactuses, agaves and other succulents at your favorite quality nursery or indoor plant store. The contrasting forms, textures and colors of the desert plants will provide lots of variety to play with. Create a realistic desert landscape look by adding rugged colorful stones between the planted succulents…. Display your desert container in a protected, out-of-the-way, full-sun location where visitors can enjoy it without having to get uncomfortably close to the prickly plants.

Man, that’s some stupid advice. “Create a realistic desert landscape”! Most people aren’t designers and can’t do it. If the instructions aren’t paint-by-numbers quality, they’ll fail. They want your help, Seattle PI, and you’re not helping.

Now even the Macon (GA) Telegraph is getting into the act. Man, cactus must be popular these days that every podunk newspaper in the country is printing cactus bloom photos. And I’m reposting every single one of them for you.

Diana Baldrica, MCT. Horse-crippler cactus.

You know it would be easy for me to quote from the article too, but I don’t think you really care about what the Macon telegraph has to say about cactus, so I am saving you the trouble of passing over their text. You can thank me in the comments.

Well, the flowers are beautiful and the plants are easy to take care of, but the Los Angeles Times says no one cares.

Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times
Epiphyllum ‘Scoop of Raspberry’

The orchid cactus might be called the Cinderella of the garden world. Most of the year the plant, with disheveled, arched, trailing branches, is easy to ignore. But from February through June, magnificent flowers, some as large as 13 inches across, pop from the notched branches in brilliant shades of red, orange, violet, yellow and gold….

There are 13,000 hybrids registered by the Epiphyllum Society of America….

But mention epiphyllum and most people’s eyes glaze over.

Well, gee, mention 13,000 hybrids and of course eyes are glazing over. Mine are, and I like them.

Well, it may be a little too late for that, what with the pictures.

Hi, I called a few weeks ago about my cactus, attached are photos. I just moved from Richmond to Martinez and my cactus started turning a beautiful deep red color on one side but now it has a disturbing orange stripe down the center. Is it ok? Thank you in advance for your help.
Mona

Mona,

Your Euphorbia looks like it has both sunburn/sun-stress and a fungal infection. The red is sun and the orange/brown/black is a sign of a fungus infection. I suggest spraying it with Neem Oil at 1 or 2%
solution. This will hopefully stop the infection. Spray to the point of run off, in the evening, not morning or afternoon as the oil can add to the sunburn. Respray after a week.

Good Luck,
Hap

Grant Street
Aloe nobilis with some Aeoniums in the background.

Some very scenic grass and rocks in the foreground. These aloes are just starting to send up bloomstalks, not yet visible in these photos. The rocks are just starting to sprout their own spring stalks, also not visible to the camera, or to the human eye. But what I like best about this photo is the child off-camera to the left who is riding her bicycle along the pathway created between 2 spectacular 25′ tall tree Aloes that have been growing here. clearly, for over 75 years. Wow.

More Newspaper Questions for you to digest, if you don’t mind. This comes from the Jefferson Post Argus World News and Telegraph Report Advertiser Supplement.

As if.

Actually I think it’s the Santa Rosa (CA) Press-Democrat.

Tiffany asks, are there any cacti that don’t have those dangerous sharp spines? I have small children and like the idea of growing cactus, but naturally, I am concerned about their sharp spines and subsequent injuries.

Yes, there are cacti that don’t have sharp spines.

Well, that was easy. On to the next question, I always say.

Well, it’s not really a tale. More of a newspaper story. Really, even, it’s the Arizona Republic answering your questions. Let’s go to the tape:

I have a saguaro that has holes being made by a cactus wren. I know that is what cactus wrens do, but is there any way I can stop it or at least repair the holes after they leave?

This question is brought to me in one form or another about once a year, and it always sort of irks me a bit.

First of all, the wrens didn’t make the hole in the cactus. That was the work of a woodpecker or flicker. The wrens just move in after the original owners leave.

Cactus wrens actually prefer cholla cactus.

Second, unless the cactus is diseased or otherwise really stressed, the holes aren’t going to hurt the cactus. The plant heals itself from the inside by sealing off the hole with a polymer called lignin.

Third, you should be happy to have the cactus wrens around. And all the other birds, lizards, small rodents and everything else that might be attracted to your saguaro. Do you have any idea how many people would like to have something like that in their yards?

Just relax and enjoy your cactus.

That is a fantastic answer, so I hope Clay Thompson doesn’t mind that I quoted it in its entirety.

Hi Peter, Here are the pictures of the cactus I called you about on Monday, I will call you later this afternoon.

Thank you
Peggy

Peggy,
Your cactus is a Cereus, and it has a virus. Because it is so severe, it
does not look like your plant is savable. We recommend tossing it.
Quick, before the virus spreads. Do not put another cactus in that
location. Dispose of the pot. Hopefully it hasn’t already spread.
Sorry I don’t have better news,
Peter

Follow Up: Peggy hired us to come and remove the plant. In person, it was no better. Unfortunately the cactus was not savable. We were hired to remove the plant, and the pieces went straight to the dump. Oy, that was a virus.

 ”…and everybody hates George Bush.”

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

via Eschaton

Aimee came into the nursery looking for plants to use in her underwater fantasies. And here’s a photo she sent us of one now:

Plus, she creatively rethinks kitchen planters too:

I hope the baking dish has holes in the bottom.

These are fantastic.

The Selkirk Weekend Advertiser is amazed, amazed by Mary Lawrie’s blooming cactus.

Selkirk’s Mary Lawrie with the tiny cactus she bought 32 years ago and left it in the small toilet of her Castle Street home.

That is amazing! 32 years in a toilet, and it’s still alive! I assume she never flushed… Oh, wait, I think in Scottish-speak that must refer to the room, not the fixture… OK, so what else can you tell us, great Scottish Advertiser?

After 30 years, it suddenly produced a flower.

Nifty! Does Mary have anything to say about this?

“It has the most beautiful flower. It comes out first like a grey furry thing that grows and grows ’til it gets to about eight inches long and then it opens. It’s like somebody pulled your ear out and stretched it, that’s what it looks like. The flower is so heavy the plant can’t maintain the weight of it. It’s dead now.”

I can just hear her accent in that quote. Thank you Mary for your 30 years long persistence.

We get follow-up questions about transplanting.

Dear Hap,

Thank you so much… This is encouraging to hear. Is there a better time to move them than others - spring, fall, would now be OK?

Now is good. You do not want to wait until it is too hot and the plants are in “conservation mode” or winter where the ground is cool and wet as that can lead to rot problems.

I understand I need to be careful on where I re-plant them to try and match the same sun exposure and conditions.? They are currently in a morning shade-corner in the back yard and I want to move them to the front where they will get?a?LOT more sun…?

As long as they are use to full afternoon sun you do not need to worry
about more light, afternoon sun is the strongest and hottest so if they
are getting that now they will be fine.

Should I keep them covered for a while?

If they are not getting full afternoon sun now and you move them then
putting some 50% shade fabric over them for a few weeks and then weaning them off shade will help keep them from getting sunburned. And yes make sure you mark the plants with which way is south and keep them orientated the same way when you replant.

Do you suggest I keep them out of the ground for a few days to let the roots dry??

Only if your soil is wet, which in your area shouldn’t be true…

And does the soil I plant them in have to be dry as well or can it be moist?

It should be kept dry for at least a week or two after transplanting. Some moisture is fine but do not actually water them.

Sorry for all of the questions, but I’d really hate to loose these native cactus.
Steve

Making SundaySauce’s Andrew Scrivani went searching for a cactus pad in New York. Hah! We get them at our local grocer here in Berkeley, but apparently it wasn’t so easy in a giant east coast metropolitan area.

I visited Mexican groceries in my neighborhood and only found the jarred version of the plant….

I… called a Mexican restaurant in the W. Village that serves Nopal… they had a private supplier…. He never called.

And then he gets an offer of 40 lbs from Phoenix. Oy, that’s a lot of pads.

A very entertaining story, indeed. You can also see one of Andrew’s photos I posted (borrowed…) this week. If I’m understanding this he not only photographs the food, he also cooks it. Now that’s what I call a good gig.

As an update to our previous story about the couple who ran from the police right into a cholla patch, here’s a quote the Arizona Republic got from one of the perps:

“I am so stupid,” Psomas said through tears as hospital workers plucked spines from his body. “This is what I get for trying to run from the police.”