My Cacti 2014

[hegar]

Here is the picture of the E. reichenbachii var. or ssp. pailianus

Harald

[gemhunter178]

Very pretty!

[CactusFanDan]

Fortunately Tephro's appreciate searing heat and extended periods of drought. Evidently you're doing something right to get it to flower, as they're not the easiest plants to coax into flower.

[Arjen]

Wow I can relate to that! That flower is stunning!

I also agree about the tephro, although it looks thirsty it seems to do really well there

[Ralf]

That "pailanus" is simply awesome! TFS Harald!

[hegar]

Thank you for your nice comments, gemhunter178, CactusFanDan, Arjen, and Ralf.
The Tephrocactus going into bloom was just pure luck. I believe, the flower buds were already "programmed", because that piece was high up on some cactus club member's plant. Then it broke off and I picked it to be planted in my cactus garden. LOL
The Echinocactus reichenbachii var. pailianus image I downloaded from the Miles-2-Go on-line catalog. I can only hope, that in a year or two I will have a plant that does produce a blossom this stunningly beautiful.
I decided yesterday to water that plant and other small cacti that I had purchased recently. The heat is possibly too much for them and their root system is still rather small. At 6:30 p.m. we still did have 104 degrees F (40 degrees C) and there is no end in sight of these above 100 degree F days.
Even my five box tortoises were desperately looking for me, because their water dish was totally dry! Usually, I can wait one week and then replace their water, which by then has become cloudy due to the presence of algae and a few leaves having fallen into it.
I do have micro-emitters of a drip irrigation system pointing at the water dish, but those little rascals have started to dig just where the stake is, making the water go somewhere else.

Harald

[hegar]

Hello everyone,
today, after returning from work, I did my customary inspection of the cacti, specifically those that are having flower buds. Because of the heat perhaps, there is nothing happening right now. I was already on my way back into the house, when I thought, that something fuzzy was at the stem ends of my only Christmas Cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia leptocaulis). I most likely would have overlooked the blossoms, because they are tiny and their color is not different from the color of their stems. However, at 7:30 p.m. the sun was low on the horizon and caused the blossoms to glisten a little bit, making it more likely for me to spot them.
Well, here are three images of the plant, which is named Christmas Cholla, because it keeps its red fruit for a long time, which makes it look as if the cactus is adorned with red Christmas ornaments. My plant dropped all of its fruit except one that you can see toward the bottom of the first image. Most likely the reason for this drop was, that I had dug up the plant in late fall/winter and it suffered from transplant shock.

Harald

[hegar]

Well, for quite some time nothing was flowering. We did have pretty hot weather with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees F for a good number of days. Now the "monsoon season" has started, which means, that the area can expect some rainfall and generally lower temperatures.
However, lately we have been having additional 100 degree F days. With the rain two cacti have gone into bloom.
First, one of my Thelocactus heterochromus plants flowered. Unfortunately, we did receive afternoon rain and my wife was only able to take a few pictures with the plant's flowers covered with rain drops. She also did not get close enough to the plant. However, here is one of her photos.
The second set of images are those of the "Eagle Claw" cactus (Echinocactus horizonthalonius). That plant, which is native to this area, does flower repeatedly, especially following a decent rainfall. Three of my plants went into bloom and I did get to take the images at around 6:30 p.m.

Harald

[Ralf]

Really nice flowers, Harald!
My Turk's Head are still too small to get flower. Fortunately I've seen the var. nicholii in flower in habitat last year. That was a great moment for me.

[hegar]

Hello Ralf,
thank you very much for your compliment. The Eagle Claw/Turk's Head cactus is one of the nicer plants that anyone can have in her/his collection.
I think, that I do not have the variety or subspecies nicholii and am not even sure, how you can tell that one from the ones that are native to this area. For some strange reason, they do seem to respond to rainfall, not so much to supplemental watering to go into bloom. Here they do flower several times. The nicest thing though, is when all of the plants are in bloom at the same time. I believe, last year about all my plants did just that.
Well, as already mentioned, we are in the monsoon season and I hope to see more flowering plants. Some of the cacti do have flower buds that do look parched though and I am not sure, if they will do me the favor and still present me with any flowers.
Of course, if anything new does show up, I shall post pictures.

Harald

[hegar]

Last night I noticed, that the night-blooming Echinopsis eyriesii would be in flower. There were only two blossoms open, because perhaps the intense heat caused most of them to abort. The first time this plant was flowering I went out several times after dark only to realize, that the blossoms remained closed until about midnight. Then I had to use a flashlight to illuminate the plant. The flash of the camera bleached out the light colored flowers. I found out then, that the blossom is still open until perhaps 9 a.m. or even later, if the sky is overcast. This condition was present this morning and the blossom color is much nicer as a result. However, the Queen of the Night cactus (Peniocereus greggii) really needs to have its picture taken during the night hours, starting at around 10 p.m. over here.

Harald

[hegar]

After the recent rains some of the cacti were coaxed into bloom. Especially the "Turk's head" or "Eagle Claw" (Echinocactus horizonthalonius) responds to rainfall by flowering a week or two later. Here are a few images of those plants.
Another plant that finally decided to flower is my larger - but still not big - Astrophytum cornifera. When I went out and noticed, that it was blooming, what caught my eye was the almost lantern-like glow of the base on the blossom. Here are a few pictures that do show this cactus.
Other cacti that have been flowering repeatedly are the Escobaria tuberculosa, Astrophytum asterias hybrids, and of course the Gymnocalycium baldianum. The latter looked brownish for a while and I became a little concerned. However, the rains did change all that and my cacti are nice, plump and green, except for the Echinocereus fendleri that can be spotted in the back of the first image posted. That plant developed a root rot and I will have to remove it.

Harald

[hegar]

Oops, I goofed!
I have had a very unpleasant day having suffered all day long from a continually running nose, watery eyes and sneezing outbursts.
That may be a big reason, why I misnamed one of the plants whose images I posted a few minutes ago. Of course, the Astrophytum is A. capricorne and not cornifera. Well, at least I did get the "corn" part correctly for the species.

Harald

[hegar]

Hello Everyone,

this may be the last posting of a flowering cactus this year. It all depends on whether or not the finicky Ferocactus latispinus manages to get the buds to open up before it does get too cold here.
Today my Ariocarpus fissuratus bloomed and I was able to take a picture. There may be more blossoms coming a little later. As you can see on the image, the poor plant did suffer some sunburn. We did have a long hot spell and by the time I realized, that the tubercles were changing from a dull grey green to a more brownish tone it was too late. I did cover the plant with a little layer of desert sand. Well, it did not die and for that I am grateful.

Harald

P.S.: Has anyone on the forum traveled lately to the Samalayuca sand dunes in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico? If so, is that an easy trip by car and what do you think about the safety of the traveler while in Mexico?

[hegar]

Well, the calendar year 2014 is going to come to a close soon. However, there is still a little bit of life in cactusland.
Today I photographed a late flower of one of my two Astrophytum asterias hybrids in bloom. These plants flower every few weeks and I highly recommend them for cactus collectors. I find this plant easy to grow, it stays small for a long time, has no spines to worry about, does have a pretty and neat appearance, and - as indicated above - flowers several times during the year. What more could you ask for?

Harald