Cactus Blog

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.

Larry Wilson with the Pasadena Star-News put some Opuntia violacea into a galvanized trough for the LA Garden Show. That seems to be the theme of his blog entry at the paper’s blog, Public Eye.

Besides, when I was in 8th grade a German woman really did tell us that “I am a Hamburger.”

Click through to see who wrote that.

The photoblogosphere has many photos. Blogs, streams, galleries, everyone’s taking pictures. So to help you indentify worthy photos to take the time to view, I’m starting a new link of the day feature focusing on Photoblogging.

Captain Suresh has a very nice flickr stream of cactus bloom photos. Some insects buzzing around the flowers too. I especially like the Ferocactus blooms.

A few weeks ago Vanillalotus went to the San Antonio Garden Center Sale and got her first succulents, including a nice juicy little Aeonium “kiwi”. Many have stopped by to offer her encouragement in her new venture into succulent-land.

Slice of the Day has a great photo of a Puya in bloom. Turquoise is the word of the day.

bunnyunlaced lists the 64 best things about LA, including things like Frank Gehry and Disneyland and Venice Beach (I don’t know, maybe that was just me.)

Huntington Gardens
You visit this 120-acre enclave for a ramble through roses and bonsai. What you don’t expect is that desert garden: a live-action Dr. Seuss book where cacti and succulents resemble stalagmites and flowing seaweed, and blooms in oranges and reds and pinks burst from monsterlike forms.

Museum of Jurassic Technology
Two of its most beloved exhibits are The Stink Ant of the Cameroon, an insect driven mad by a spore in its tiny brain, and The Horn of Mary Davis Saughall, an appendage that grew on said woman’s head in the 17th century.

We loove Dr. Seuss, and not those Jim Carrey Seuss-wannabes either.

This is one random blog link, you know. I hope you appreciate the way I dig deep into bloglandia to find these gems.

It’s Sunday so I can post stupid things if I want to.

Here we have the confluence of politics and science fiction (and no, I’m not talking about Dick Cheney) in one concise, even pithy, blog entry from Atrios.

Battlestar Galactica Spoiler

Laura Roslin’s mother is Barbara Bush.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

We noticed that too. I said, and I quote, “Her mother is Barbara Bush”.

Christie at the Cape is featuring a Euphorbia for entertainment purposes only. Euphorbia meloformis, with pendulant bloom stalks.

I think the plant looks happier now, if it is possible for Euphorbia meloformis to look happy. Its unapologetic fatness is somehow happy.

Water When Dry has a very nice Astrophytum myriostigma in bloom. It’s got a lot of character, which means it’s old.

Old enough to bloom, and Aiyana has the photo to prove it. Can you guess what color it is? Here’s a poll for you to give it a try. I love polls! Then click through and check it out, dude.

Oregon Cactus Blog has a nice photo of an older Eriocyse senilis in bloom. Red blooms at the crown of the plant, that is.

Sandykidd likes cactus, and had this to say,

I have been called the ‘Prickle Fairy’ for a reason! For my strange love of cactus and also my social resemblance to said prickly succulents.

Greenfish Artist and Gardener has a whole bunch of little cactus from the Austin Spring Fling thingy, plus a picture of an unlabeled Rechsteineria leucotricha in bloom.

Daystar Shine on Me visited the Botanico Jardin Las Palmas Canary Island and took some great shots of some giant cacti in the gardens. How come I never get to go to the Canary Islands?

Mallorca Daily Photo Blog has a lovely photo of a Cleistocactus at the…

Botanicactus near Ses Salines in South East Mallorca is a huge botanical garden.

I’d click through to see the full size photo if I were you.