Fall in Sparks NV.

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NM
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Sep 04, 2010 10:17 pm

Fall in Sparks NV.

Post by NM »

Fall has come to Washoe County Nevada. A few weeds are appearing but nothing I can't handle. I allow some weeds to grow in my cactus garden to the distress of a local cactus gardener. Weeds can provide shade and ground cover. I have one "weed" now growing that is four feet across and covers the gravel between cactus nicely. I assume it will die this winter but it will cone back in the spring.
My garden made it though the hot summer very well. We are at 4800 feet so the ultra violent sun light damages some cactus. I place bricks or stones near them to hide the sun. They respond well to that tactic.
Three years ago I purchased a dozen agave plants from Coldhardycactus.com. The price was extremely reasonable. I can report now which ones are my favorite.
Number One is Palmers Agave. It is truly beautiful. This summer it put out five pups one of which I dug up and potted, moving it to the kitchen window. It is doing very very well. It might make a nice house plant if kept in the window area.
Number two is the long leaf agave. It is striking to view. It put up four pups this summer. The pups grow fast.
Another agave is the New Mexico or Americana agave. It is a larger agave. It grows extremely well here even in hard soil. The problem with it is it spreads and takes over an area. I've done major digging of all the pups and cut-back the mother severely. The pups return later even after digging up he runners.
One agave that died was native to Nevada! It was a miniature plant, but it apparently did not like this altitude or my watering habits.
My Yucca rostratas have began growing again. One put on about four inches since cool weather arrived. I expect it to grow a foot this winter and stop growing late next spring.
I have collected about 100,000 cactus seeds from my garden. Many or most of them are from hybrid plants. I'm sending them to South America if the grower wants all of them.
I have experimented with several cactus from South America buying hybrids at Walmart. About 99.999% of them die in the winter, but I might get lucky with one of the hybrids.
I have added a number of elevated planters in my garden. These are placed on brick stacks. The cactus respond very well to being off the hot ground. It keeps the bugs out too.
Seed pods. I have noticed that cactus seed pods are visited by ants and wasps after the seed pods split open a tiny bit. The ants and wasps carry away the pulp with the seeds. I'm not sure if they eat the seeds but they do carry them away.
I had success cloning the past two years. I cloned Echinerous cactus from Lincoln County NM. They all made it except two cuttings.
My latest count was 501 cactus in my garden. I expect about five new cactus seedlings coming up next spring at random places.

Lastly, I planed three blue spruce trees in my garden. I did this to provide filtered shade. I realize that in 15 years the trees may kill most of the cactus as the trees will produce more and more shade. But I will be gone by then. Out of sight, out of mind.
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