My Cacti 2015

[Arjen]

hi harald, looking good there
lovely flower displays!

[hegar]

Thank you for your compliment, Arjen.
Thus far I am not too disappointed with my cacti. Almost all of them survived the winter and some are doing very well.
I went out last night, in order to take a few pictures of my "Queen of the Night" (Peniocereus greggii) plants. The images did not turn out to my full satisfaction. So I shall try again tonight, when most likely the other plant will open its flower buds also. If that is the case, I am going to cross-pollinate the plants with the hope of them producing nice red fruit.

Harald

[hegar]

During the last week a good number of cacti went into the flowering mode. Two of the Astrophytum species, A. capricorne and A. myriostigma bloomed. However, by the time I got back from work the flowers were in the process of closing.
Another plant that flowered and is not finished yet by a long shot is the night-blooming Echinopsis eyriesii. The flowers, like most of that genus are spectacular. I also had the first bloom on a peanut cactus (Echinopsis chamaecereus), a small-stemmed, crawling cactus with vivid flower color.
Also, a small Echinocereus pentalophus produced a blossom. I almost overlooked it, being hidden within much larger prickly pear cacti and a cholla.
Apropos prickly pear, some of those also flowered. I am not sure what their scientific names are, except to call them "Opuntia spp.".
The last and "big event" in my cactus garden was the flowering of the "Queen of the Night" cactus Peniocereus greggii. I had a total of 10 blossoms on two plants (one with eight, the other with two flowers). The bigger plant probably could have easily produced 20 blossoms. All eight of them were just on one side of the plant. However, it was nice to see as many flowers as I did this time around. The first five blossoms showed up on the bigger plant during the night of May 9th through 10th. I was out there with my flashlight and camera, trying to get images taken while pushing the fig bush near the cactus out of the way. Then on May 12th the rest of the flowers opened, with the bigger plant having three blossoms and the smaller one two. Unfortunately, this time around the weather did not play nice. It was raining all evening long. Fortunately though, one of the flowers did not receive too much of a drenching and it was open still at 07:30 the next morning. So the misfortune gave me a chance to photograph the cactus flower without any artificial light!

Harald

[fanaticactus]

"Spectacular Season' appears to be starting! Beautiful!

[hegar]

Thank you for your compliment, fanaticactus. I must say, that I am pretty happy with my plants thus far!
Hopefully, there will be a few more good ones to show later in the year.

Harald

[fanaticactus]

Thank you for your compliment, fanaticactus. I must say, that I am pretty happy with my plants thus far!
Hopefully, there will be a few more good ones to show later in the year.

Harald

I don't think you have anything to worry about!

[hegar]

A few more plants decided to flower. It was quite a show, when three kinds of cacti had open blossoms at the same time. They were Echinocereus pentalophus, Echinopsis eyriesii and an unknown Echinocereus, possibly a hybrid. The Echinopsis eyriesii produced more blossoms than ever before. The light pink colored flowers of the Echinocereus are pretty too.
One of the Astrophytum asterias hybrids also still had its blossom open at around 7 p.m., while, unfortunately, the only flower of the Echinocereus rigidissimus ssp. rubispinus had already closed for good. Well, at least this cactus looks fine even without blossoms to adorn it.
Also, three of my Thelocactus plants flowered. First were the T. heterochromus plants, followed by T. hexaedrophorus.
Two of my Echinocactus horizonthalonius plants also bloomed. That usually happens about two to three weeks after a rainfall.
Last, but definitely not least of the cacti presenting me with flowers is a small clump that did me the favor for the very first time. I have lost the tag, but believe, that it is an Echinocereus enneacanthus, one of the two species known as "Strawberry Cactus", because their fruit is delicious and has the aroma of strawberries. However, I have to say, that the blossom is magnificent too. With its deep pink color, it reminds me a little of yet another pretty plant, Echinocereus bonkerae.
That is all for today. Tomorrow there may be another plant coming into bloom.

Harald

[K.W.]

A few more plants decided to flower.
>>>

<<<
That is all for today.

Harald

. . . and that is quiet a lot of wonderful flowers!
Thelocactus and Echinocactus horizonthalonius growing in the garden. . .
That is one of my wildest dreams!

Thanks for the photos Harald!


Best wishes

K.W.

[hegar]

Hello K.W.,
perhaps you should retire somewhere in the U.S. Southwest. With land being inexpensive and an almost perfect climate for cactus growing, you could have hundreds of Echinocactus horizonthalonius plants on your property within a short time. Because our local cactus club members already have all the local cacti they can handle, we now plant "rescued cacti" wherever we can find some interest. For example, last year I assisted in planting cacti that were going to be destroyed by development in the Franklin Mountain State Park, which is located within El Paso. There is still enough room for many more plants along the walk paths.
Even the last batch, consisting of way over 1000 cacti, did find a new home. We do have some club members, who invest their time, vehicles, gasoline use, etc. to allow these cacti to keep on living. However, our club can only salvage these plants, if we do receive the authorization by the land owner. Some builders/developers are notifying us and allowing us to dig up the plants, while others do not want to have anybody trespass on their property and give us time to do the job.

Harald

[K.W.]

Hello K.W.,
perhaps you should retire somewhere in the U.S. Southwest. With land being inexpensive and an almost perfect climate for cactus growing, you could have hundreds of Echinocactus horizonthalonius plants on your property within a short time.

That would be wonderful. But I do not believe it. My wife it would be too warm! Residence permit? But the real problem, how do I get my plants legally in the US?
In my next life I will be born in Texas or Arizona, which makes it easier then.

Because our local cactus club members already have all the local cacti they can handle, we now plant "rescued cacti" wherever we can find some interest. For example, last year I assisted in planting cacti that were going to be destroyed by development in the Franklin Mountain State Park, which is located within El Paso. There is still enough room for many more plants along the walk paths.
Even the last batch, consisting of way over 1000 cacti, did find a new home. We do have some club members, who invest their time, vehicles, gasoline use, etc. to allow these cacti to keep on living. However, our club can only salvage these plants, if we do receive the authorization by the land owner. Some builders/developers are notifying us and allowing us to dig up the plants, while others do not want to have anybody trespass on their property and give us time to do the job.

Harald

My great respect Harald! That's a very good job. James and Dan have told me the same from Tucson. I wish could help.


Best wishes

K.W.

[Baxter]

Wow, what a collection!Those E. eyriesii are gorgeous, I've ordered some seeds and can't friggin' wait for them to arrive. One day I'd love to live somewhere where I could keep my plants outdoors, yours look great growing aomngst the rocks.

[hegar]

Thank you for your nice comment, Baxter. The genus Echinopsis generally does produce large and showy flowers, and E. eyriesii is no exception.
When we did have a very strong cold front move through El Paso, TX I did a little experiment, in order to find out the frost hardiness of this species.
I did cover the larger clump, which is still around and shown on the images with a brown plastic weed barrier, which allows water and gas exchange, while I left the smaller clump without that protection. Well, the outcome was not really unexpected. The large clump survived "with flying colors", while the smaller one succumbed to the cold. I only had to cover my outdoor cacti once - in February 2011 -, because the temperatures went to freezing and below for a full 72 hours. Even many native cacti died as a result, especially the larger kinds like Ferocactus wislizenii.
There are some cacti, that are quite hardy and perhaps could be even grown outdoors in your country. The main thing though is to keep them dry as much as possible during the cold months of the year. I think, I saw someone's cactus planting in Germany, where the grower had placed an awning over the raised cactus bed, which had been modified in order to achieve good drainage.

I wish you the best of luck with the growing of cacti from seed. I have not ever tried in earnest to grow them from seed, because then I would have many hundreds within a short time and I cannot bring myself to keep just a few.

Harald

[Mark]

Excellent photos Harald! I really like your Queen of the night! How old would say your plant is? Do you water your plants, or do they only get water when it rains?


Mark

[hegar]

Hello Mark,
I cannot say how old the Queen of the Night cacti are, but the one that produced the majority of blossoms has been in the ground for about five years. I do not water these cacti, because I am worried about root rot. The plants do respond to water quite well and will look good, until the stem falls over and the tuberous root has started to decay.
My plants are located near other plants, although those are not the natural "nurse plants", e.g. creosote. What seems to be important though is protection from the harsh sunlight during the late morning to early evening hours. Also, because the plant is so lanky, it needs to be staked.

I am sorry, I did not answer your question sooner. Things have been rather hectic at home and my plants are not flowering at the time.
When I am posting, I always respond to any inquiry or comment that is directed at me.

Harald

[Mark]

Interesting, thanks Harald!

I have a plant that is growing amongst a cholla and it is maybe about 2 feet tall with branches.
I'm thinking it may need some more sun, since it gets shade for most of the afternooon.

Thanks for sharing!

Mark