My Cacti 2016

[hegar]

Thank you, adetheproducer, I thought long and hard about the identification of this plant and in fact looked at Echinocereus knippelianus images on this site under the title "Echinocereus " a few minutes before finding out, that you had responded to my request for ID help.
I do have E. knippelianus on my list of cacti in my garden, but had forgotten where I had planted the specimen. It did not flower last year, but this time around, it had three blossoms!
Another "first" for my will be to hopefully see a flower on my Echinocereus pulchellus. I did have a plant a good number of years ago, but before it could bloom, one of those darn curve-billed thrashers dug it up and damaged it. When I found it, uprooted and lying on its side, it was too late to be salvaged. So I went ahead and bought another small plant. This time though, I placed a stem segment of an Opuntia leptocaulis very close to the plant. I found out, that these nasty birds have a lot of respect for cholla spines.
Well, I hope, that by tomorrow one of my Peniocereus greggii plants will flower. It should already have happened, but the weather has been kind of unusual lately. We are experiencing a cold spell. To us, that means, the temperature will not reach 80 degrees F for a few days.
I shall post the images of the Queen of the Night cactus as soon as I have a chance to download them on my computer.

Harald

[hegar]

Well, after waiting a few days several cacti flowered, but not the Peniocereus greggii. The buds on that one are rather large though and I would be very surprised, if they do not open this week.
One plant that bloomed on May 1st and still has its blossoms is on of the commonly called claret cups. While the other (Echinocereus coccineus var. roseus) has finished flowering, the Echinocereus triglochidiatus is now showing its best side. Like the E. coccineus, this plant also keeps its blossoms open at night and they do last a good number of days. The blossom is slightly larger and has a darker red color.
Here are images I took on May 1st, with one blossom open and in the evening hours of May 3rd, when all three flowers were open.

Harald

[hegar]

I forgot the image from May 3rd.
Here it is.

Harald

[Lazz]

These are spectacular flowers. Beautiful

[hegar]

Thank you, Lazz. I too admire the blossoms of all the cacti in my collection.

Well, today is the big day! When I returned home from work a little after 6:30 p.m. I took a peek at my Queen of the Night (Peniocereus greggii) plant and realized, that the buds were going to open. So, about two hours later I took my camera and started taking pictures. i am going to post them last, because two other cacti also flowered and I wanted to preserve the best as long as possible. LOL

The first plant shown is an old standby. It used to be called Chamaecereus sylvestris, but was later renamed and its new name is Echinopsis chamaecereus. The common name is "Peanut Cactus". It is easy to grow and would look nice in a hanging basket. The flowers and the stems are not very nice, but do have a strong brick-red color.

Next in line is the always dependable Gymnocalycium baldianum. It too is very easy to grow and produces flush after flush of mid-sized blossoms that can be so red, that it is quite difficult to show the whitish-yellowish stamens in the flower.

Last - and definitely not least - is the Queen of the Night. I do have three plants. One of them decided not to flower, the largest one has three or four flower buds, but will bloom later, and the one photographed had eight or nine flower buds. However, only three decided to bloom today. The others will most likely be ready, when the largest plant flowers. I shall try to pollinate the blossoms, but I may not need to do so, because it is a warm night and there should be moths around that are attracted by the sweet scent of the flowers.

Harald

[Lazz]

[hegar]

A few more plants have flowered and I shall post those images.
Because the blossoms of the peanut cactus (Echinopsis chamaecereus) did not do the plant justice, I took an additional one, showing them fully open.
Also, my larger Glory of Texas (Thelocactus bicolor) opened a huge blossom, and the third cactus that bloomed was the Astrophytum asterias.
All of these plants will flower repeatedly every year and I do not have any problems keeping them alive, although the E. chamaecereus has lost its green color and looks a little grey-green now.
Tomorrow, the Echinocereus poselgeri, Echinocereus pulchellus, and Echinocereus reichenbachii should be strutting their stuff. I already missed the first blossoms of the latter, but hope to be home early enough to get a picture taken this time around.

Harald

[hegar]

Things did not work out too well today. By the time I returned from work, both the Echinocereus reichenbachii and Echinocereus pulchellus had finished flowering. Most likely the E. reichenbachii will bloom again. Unfortunately, the E. pulchellus only had one flower bud and will probably not flower again this year, which means, that I will have to wait until next year, in order to be able to obtain a picture of it in bloom.
Unexpectedly, my Echinocereus perbellus had one open blossom, despite being in the shadow of the prickly pear cacti.
Also, the single flower on the Echinocereus poselgeri was still ready to be photographed.
Here are the images of the plants mentioned above.

Harald

[hegar]

Today I found another one of my cacti in bloom. It is a good-sized Astrophytum myriostigma and produced two blossoms.

Harald

[hegar]

After a short lull, both of my Astrophytum asterias plants went into bloom. These plants are hybrids and perhaps that makes growing them so easy (hybrid vigor). In addition to the decent flower size, they do bloom repeatedly. I posted one of them in flower on May 9th and do expect at least one more flush of blossoms before the season is over.

Harald

[Mark]

Lovely display of flowers Harald! I need to get more summer blooming plants like you. Most of my cacti have already flowered for the year. I do have some Adenium and Uncarina that are flowering but those are potted plants.

Congrats on your queen of the night! I am still waiting for mine to make some blooms. I'm thinking it needs more sun since it get shade from about 3 pm, and it's growing in a cholla. What is the Ferocactus behind the E. poselegri?

Where did you get your Thelocactus from? From the sale with the cactus club?

Hope you are doing well.

Mark

[hegar]

Hello Mark,
nice to hear from you again. Well, to your questions and comments:
Tonight I do have the third time, that the queen of the night (Peniocereus greggii) is flowering. However, I am not going to go out and take pictures.
I already do have enough, the plant is located at a place that is not easily accessible, and I do not feel well (allergy).
Today also one of my Echinocactus horizonthalonius flowered.
The Theolocactus bicolor plant is one of the first cacti that was purchased from Rio Grande Cacti a good number of years ago. The Ferocactus has been with me also for a very long time, but I am not sure what species it is.
Yesterday, my Turbinicarpus schmiedekeanus flowered. However, by the time I noticed it - early afternoon - the blossoms were already starting to close.
I still went ahead and took a photo.

Harald

[cactushobbyman]

After seeing some of your Echinocereus', I will be adding some to my garden. They are potted now, some have flowered, but they seem just different in a garden setting.

[hegar]

Hello cactushobbyman,
you are correct when you state, that potted plants look somewhat different than those in the ground in a garden. As a gardener you can control every aspect of the life of potted plants, while those out in a front or back yard have to deal with mother nature. A good number of my plants did not survive in my outdoor plantings, although with a greenhouse I most likely would have been successful in growing them.
I am glad, that you decided to add some Echinocereus members to your garden plantings. Although I have had a good cross-section of the species within this genus mostly in my front yard, I have had mixed success with them. Most, however, are doing well.
Today I only found one cactus in flower. It is a plant, that most people would not even like. The cactus is straggly and its flowers are not showy.
When a close-up photo is taken, there is actually some beauty visible. The plant I am talking about is the christmas cholla, (Opuntia leptocaulis).
The red fruit remains on the thin-stemmed plant for a long time, giving this cactus the look of a desert christmas tree with red ornaments.

Harald

[hegar]

Well, this year my cacti are not cooperating well with me. All too often the plants decided to flower when I was not at home. As a result, I could not post any of the images showing their blossoms.
However, I am still going ahead and show an already closed flower every once in a while.
One plant that thankfully is easy to photograph is the Echinopsis eyriesii. Although a night-flowering cactus, its blossoms are still open until about 9' clock the next morning.
One that I almost missed altogether is the Echinocereus pentalophus, the one with the "purple-brown" stems. It too bloomed on a weekday a while back. This evening there was one blossom still open though.
One of my favorite cacti - the Thelocactus heterochromus - also flowered today and had its blossom closed by early this evening. I did take a photo, but hope, that the next bud will be opening this coming weekend.

Harald