Cactus Blog

I don’t understand this headline on an article from KTAR Phoenix.

Master gardener sees if cactus grows in Mohave Desert

Really? A “Master Gardener” doesn’t know if cacti grow in the desert? They have to go “see” if it’s true?

Maybe I should read the article and make sense of this. Maybe I should just click that little link and follow where it goes. Maybe.

Or not, hard to say.

“It appears that the owners of the bar have known for a long time about the problems caused by the Cactus… but have chosen to ignore those problems because they are making too much money,” the Osadchuks’ attorney, Charlie Rice of South Bend, said in an e-mail. “A classic case of profits over people.”

What kind of problem could a cactus be causing to bar patrons? I don’t understand.

(P)olice responded to nearly 700 calls for service at the Neon Cactus.

Oooohhhhh…… It’s not a cactus, it’s a Neon Cactus. Now I understand. I have a neon cactus T-shirt for sale at Cafepress. I wonder if it’s the same thing? My T-shirts don’t cause bar fights, at least not that I am aware of. So much confusion in Indiana. And right here too - sometimes I wonder what this blog is all about. Ah well, on to the next misunderstanding…

Geraniums are showier and more easily found in window boxes around the world, but Pelargoniums are better. Don’t believe me? Then check out the photos in the Dallas Morning News and you’ll be a convert.

In Saguaro National Park they’ve come up with such a simple and elegant solution to poaching, that one wonders why it wasn’t thought of before.

Bob Love, the chief ranger says “Saguaro National Park was set aside to preserve the saguaro cactus if we can’t protect them here where can we can we protect them.”

So he’s come up with a plan to deter plant poachers. A microchip will be implanted in the saguaros…. Each chip costs $3.50

I like it. Maybe we can also microchip my sunglasses, since they keep getting stolen too, or lost, hard to know which.

…for the environment. 4 Baby Cactus Owls were hatched in captivity. The Tucson Citizen is all over it.

A nonprofit group that rescues birds of prey in Arizona has hatched four cactus ferruginous pygmy owls, the first ones bred in captivity, a researcher for the Arizona Game & Fish Department said….

Though the new owls will remain in captivity, the long-term goal is to replenish the dwindling population of the birds in the Sonoran desert, said sanctuary director Bob Fox.

“The plan will be to get the birds released to the wild at some point,” said Fox, who cares for about 150 owls and hawks at Wild at Heart.

I’d like to add my 2 cents worth:

Woohoo!

In Texas, the like to garden in themes, and apparently now cactus is a theme with which to garden.

Gardens can do more than put food on the table or create curb appeal. For some, they’re a reflection of values…. Here are some other suggestions for themes that can be fashioned into gardens:

I think this is sad. A theme is like “French Provincial, mid-1860s” or “Light Green” or “Mow and Blow” but cactus isn’t a theme, it’s a plant family. I mean you could say that Fucshia is a theme then. Imagine the possiblities.

Roof: Top off a sturdy outbuilding with a layer of sod sown liberally with wildflowers. Or use succulents, cactus and other drought resistant plants on the roof of structures where they can be maintained and enjoyed.

Oh, I guess I was wrong. WELL, green roofs seems like a good idea. 

Nevermind.

I’ve never linked to Fox News before. Then again, I’ve never linked to CBS either. NBC and CNN, sure.

Mike Rimer calls himself a ‘Cactus Cop’, much to the chuckle sometimes of those he meets. But in this region of the country and to those who sanctify succulents, busting poachers who thrive on saguaros for example, can be as important as catching thief nabbing a diamond necklace.

I only agreed to link to this from FOX because of the pretty pictures. There’s video too. I hope it was all worth it for you, since I feel dirty now.

Today we travel the world in search of hip and contemporary succulent fanciers. And now we find them in Ireland this coming weekend.

The South East Garden Show is one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year and is on track to be a huge success. This year’s show has moved to a new location, Clonmel Racecourse, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary on 20th 21st & 22nd June. This was previously held at the Iverk Show Grounds, Piltown, Co. Kilkenny….

I don’t know what that paragraph was about, what with the clonmels and the iverks and the piltowns.

Dermot O’Neill, that well know gardening personality, will be on hand once again to officially open this high-quality event on Friday 20th June at 12noon…

Yes, I know Dermot well. Or I would, if I lived in Ireland and followed the lecture circuit for well-known garden personalities.

It is a great family event with children’s entertainment with Sylvano the magician…

Oh God…

bouncy castle…

I’m bursting….

and more….

Phew.

There will be plenty of… cacti and succulents… for the adults to see and buy… and much more

You could do worse.

…for succulents. Even in Ottawa. No, especially in Ottawa.

What is the shortest distance between the novice gardener and a hip garden? A collection of succulents. These little (for the most part) charmers announce to the world that you have arrived in the garden design world.

It is true. To be hip one needs to garden with succulents. Take your hipness tips from an Ottawan and you can’t go wrong, I always say. Now you know.

…starts with plants.

If the sea rocket detects unrelated plants growing in the ground with it, the plant aggressively sprouts nutrient-grabbing roots. But if it detects family, it politely restrains itself.

A dodder after it attacked a tomato plant. Photo: Justin Runyon/De Moraes and Mescher Labs

I always knew it. I’ve argued it for years. Now we’ve got the possibility that vegetarians have been eating intelligent life forms all along. And they were delicious. Of course, based on the article, it wasn’t the tomato plant that was intelligent….

Verizon has a unique way to hide some cell towers in Casa Grande, and I don’t mean invisible ink.

The tower will… blend into the landscape, looking like a 24-foot saguaro cactus. Dubbed the “Stealth Cactus,” the Verizon cell tower “monocactus” will be joined by four live saguaros on the currently bare hill to match area landscapes.

This is very good news. I foresee some new towers in many interesting and happy shapes. For instance, in Philadelphia, they’ll be in the shape of a big bell.

And in San Francisco, they could hide them on the hills looking like a cable car.

How about for Buffalo they could hide them in a snow drift?

I like the idea of a giant crab in Baltimore; a big pot of beans in Boston; a 2000lb lobster in Maine, and a pig in Nebraska…. Hey! Now there’s an idea…. The world’s largest cell-phone-tower-pig! I’d stop by to see it.

Any other ideas?

Who knew there were others doing this too, and that they had a formal name and PO Box too?

A young woman in a green jacket with horses printed all over it stopped to ask what they were doing.

“We’re gardening,” Reynolds told her.

“Who are you gardening for?”

“For everyone and ourselves,” he said. “We’re guerrilla gardeners.”

An unauthorized horticultural action in London this May.
Photo: Finlay MacKay for The New York Times

Have you ever done anything like this? Planted something on public property or on someone else’s under-utilized land?

Students near San Diego get with the program and plant some cactus after all.

When their science teacher announced plans to make a cactus garden that would be a model of water conservation, students pictured an arid landscape.

BORing.

Hey! That’s not fair. Kids can be so cruel.

But some eighth-graders at San Marcos Middle School embraced the after-school project after seeing pictures of an award-winning cactus garden with bright colors and resembling a coral reef. They perked up more after visiting Palomar College’s cactus garden down the street.

Students then decided to dedicate the garden that they would create to Lenny Preyss, a popular history and English teacher who is retiring in June after 31 years on campus. The school garden should be finished next week.

Oh. That’s better. Good for them. I wonder how that turned out?

Pedro Almodóvar’s latest project is filming in a famous cactus garden, although we don’t know why. Here is a picture of a famous actress being hounded by photographers in a famous cactus garden, although you can’t see any of the cacti in question. But they assure us they’re there.

Penélope Cruz in the Guatiza Cactus Garden yesterday - Photo EFE

Filming on the island is expected to last for more than two weeks.
Penélope Cruz is already in Lanzarote at the orders of Pedro Almodóvar as filming starts for the new film ‘Los Abrazos Rotos’.

The famous Guatiza Cactus Garden was chosen by the director for some shots taken yesterday, and part of the filming was carried out by helicopter and comes at the start of what will be more than two weeks filming on the Canary Island.

I remember the first Almodóvar film I saw, Tie Me Up Tie Me Down!, ah good times. I also liked All About My Mother. It really was. All about my mother, that is. What a lame joke. But that’s only because it’s hard to adequately describe an Almodóvar experience. In fact, I think I’ll add Tie Me Up Tie Me Down! to my netflix list, as I haven’t seen it in years.

KHTS AM 1220 Outdoor Report reporter Wendy Langhans noticed her cactus outdoors was blooming. I post a quote from her report and a picture from the website, because I feel it is important to let radio have just as much blog support as newspapers. Now, where in the heck is KHTS anyway?

One evening this week as I was watering my plants, I noticed a few cactus buds that were almost ready to bloom.  I made a note to check back early the next morning, because most cactus blossoms don’t last very long after they open.  And sure enough, the next morning the flowers were open and resplendent in the first light of dawn.  As I zoomed in with my camera to take a photo, I noticed that the anthers were covered with a dusting of white pollen.