My flowering Cacti 2017

[hegar]

Thank you very much for your comments, Grimm and thorneyheart.
@ Grimm:
About the misfortune of losing sometimes even established plants, there are several reasons. One of them - at least for the Peniocereus greggii (Queen of the Night) cacti - was my watering practices. I killed the first plants by giving them water during the hot and dry weather. As a result, the tuber rotted and the plant died. Now I do not water them at all and they seem to be doing fine. They do survive on the natural precipitation.
Perhaps I should reduce my watering schedule for all those plants, that die of root rot.
The weather may also be a factor. We have had super-hot days of above 100 degrees F daily for over a week now and this Friday we may have 108 degrees. With the high altitude here 4,000 feet above sea level, the solar radiation is even affecting old, established plants. As far as insects or pathogens are concerned, I have not noticed anything new though.

@ Grimm and thorneyheart:
the Mammillaria grahamii plant I purchased last year for $ 3.00 at our local cactus and succulent garden tour. It is a plant that was removed from a piece of land scheduled for development. Of the native Mammillaria species, this one does have the largest flowers. I also like the fish-hook spines.
I hope, that this plant will stay with me for a few more years. The last one did get hit by hail stones and died shortly after that event.

Harald

[hegar]

Finally I do have a few more digital images to post. Some of them are repeat bloomers, like the Mammillaria grahamii (a plant native to where I live), also Esobaria tuberculosa, which is found growing nearby in the foothills. Another one that already bloomed in May is the pretty Thelocactus heterochromus. While I have not had any flower produced on my Escobaria vivipara, which is also found on the mountain slopes here, another local beauty surprised me with one nice blossom today. I do have three small clumps of Coryphantha macromeris, which were saved from being crushed by heavy construction equipment due to land development, these plants did not flower for four or five years. The most likely reason is probably, because they had been transplanted into a too shady part of the yard, underneath a Chitalpa tree. That tree is slowly dying and now allows more light in.
So, without further ado, here are the images I took early this afternoon.

Harald

[K.W.]

What a bunch of nice flowers.


Best wishes

K.W.

[hegar]

Thank you very much, K.W. for your nice comment. Compared to what you do have on display, my collection of slightly over 100 plants, which do not even flower profusely, is rather puny indeed. However, I already feel good and happy, if my plants do not die in my care.

This morning, shortly before 8 a.m., when I was getting ready to drive off to work, I noticed a bright red flower in one of my small cactus beds.
I had not even realized, that the plant was going to bloom! The only reason I even looked into that direction was the large clump of Echinopsis eyriesii, which I expected to have a few blossoms open. So I quickly whipped out my camera and took a few pictures of both plants' blossoms, before going to work.
I fully understand, why some cactus aficionados only collect Echinopsis spp.. There are so many species and most do have large, showy flowers.
In addition. this genus does have untold hybrid crosses, which all have names, similar to rose cultivars.
So I do not even know, what the red-blooming Echinopsis scientific species name is. It may be a pure-bred plant or a hybrid. So, here are the two plants, side by side. The main difference is, that the red-flowering plant does bloom during the day, while the white-flowering one is a night bloomer. However, its flowers are still open until noon, if the sky is overcast. That was the case today.

Harald

[hegar]

Right on Thanksgiving Day two of my larger Eagle Claw cacti (Echinocactus horizonthalonius) went into bloom. The smallest one of the group of four flowered on May 10th and the biggest has yet to do so. While the blossom only lasts for one day, it is quite big and the plants flower repeatedly, usually about two or three weeks after a rainfall.

Harald

[hegar]

After a lull of flowering, some life has returned to my cacti. We are experiencing the "monsoon season", where most of the precipitation occurs here in the Chihuahuan Desert. It always amazes me, what some rainfall can do for plants, that just a few weeks ago looked like they were almost dead!
Everything has plumped up and the green color has returned to the stems. The rains usually fall, starting in the early afternoon hours and last throughout the night. Perhaps the cloud cover also was beneficial and appreciated by the cacti.
Earlier this year I had bemoaned the fact, that I was not able to photograph the plants when they did flower, because I had to go to work.
Well, this time two of them decided to flower once more (Echinocereus reichenbachii, Thelocactus rinconensis var. freudenbergii, and Thelocactus bicolor var. schottii), and I was able to take pictures of them. Other plants that are in bloom right now are our natives Mammillaria grahamii and Escobaria tuberculosa and the non-indigenous cactus Echinopsis eyriesii.
OK, enough said, here are the photos I took today:

Harald

[hegar]

Today, while I was at work, two genera of my cacti flowered. One of them is an Astrophytum asterias hybrid and has been in my front yard for a good number of years. Almost all my other Astrophytum members died early this spring.
The other plant is a native cactus (Echinocactus horizonthalonius). This cactus does respond to natural precipitation more than anything. The rainy season we now do have triggered it to flower.

Harald

[hegar]

The "cactus of the day" is a small plant, that can be easily overlooked. Perhaps over time it will become bigger and more noticeable.
The flower is of a medium size and almost white with yellow stamens and a white pistil. This plant, Thelocactus hexaedrophorus, is one of the cacti that seems to be doing well for me. It also does flower repeatedly. The first blossom opened on May 6th, the second one on June 13th, and today the third.
Another Thelocactus, which flowered only a week ago surprised me with another two buds. Those are already quite big and will open either tomorrow or at the beginning of next week. That plant, with its nice pink flowers, is pictured on my post from July 23rd above. Because it will be the first time, that the cactus (Thelocactus rinconensis var. freudenbergii) does have two blossoms, I shall photograph it once more and post digital images of it.

Harald

[hegar]

One of my larger and still surviving Astrophytum plants flowered on August 1st. I have had this cactus, an Astrophytum capricorne, for a number of years and like this plant for its good-sized bright yellow flowers with a red throat, visible even from the outside, where it gives the impression of almost glowing, like ember, and also for having a speckled stem and unruly looking twisted spines.

Harald

[Tedi]

Hello Harald, Thank you for sharing, they are beautiful. It is interesting that you can plant them in ground. I live in Thailand where there is so much rain, and very few cacti can be planted outdoor, like some Echinopsis, Opuntia. I found a picture of ECHINOCEREUS TRIGLOCHIDIATUS at cactus art biz and I think the flower looks just like your first picture. May I ask how old are these plants, do you know? Cheers.

[hegar]

Hello Tedi,
thank you your compliment of my limited cactus assortment. You are correct, it is not easy to grow cacti outdoors in an environment, where a lot of precipitation occurs. We have had quite a bit of rain lately, but my cacti thus far seem not to only shrug it off, but to thrive! Some of them have added so much water, that they almost look like they are going to burst. I did amend the already sandy soil at my place by adding quite a bit of gravel, which drains even faster. In addition, I do plant the more sensitive plants at the high point of a slope, which also helps with the run-off of water.
One thing, that most likely contributed to the loss of a substantial number of my cacti, was rainfall very late in the fall and winter snow, which kept the cold soil moist for too long a period. Perhaps a roof-like structure would have been helpful.
Now to your question: You are asking about an Echinocereus triglochidiatus picture that I have posted on this thread, mentioning the first picture.
There is only one cactus pictured on page 1, whose blossoms superficially resemble this of E. triglochidiatus. However, they are much smaller than those shown on page 3. Also, the plant's spines are different than those of E. triglochidiatus. I do not know, how long I have had that cactus on page 1.
I would guess, it has been a little over five years. The first three years or so it did not even flower, but produced additional stems. Then I had one flower only. This year, for the first time, it was a bit more generous with the flower production. The good thing about the plant, just like it is the case with E. coccineus and E. triglochidiatus, the blossoms last for about one week and stay open day and night. So you have always a good opportunity to see and photograph the plant, when it is in bloom.
I do have one cactus, that produces one flower every year, but I have yet had the pleasure to admire the blossom, which stays open less than one day. The cactus insists on flowering on a day when I have to go to work.

Harald

[hegar]

Today three different cacti were blooming, two of them plants that I can encounter within a few miles from where I live. The third one, Thelocactus bicolor var. schottii is called the "Pride of Texas", but it does not grow wild in the immediate vicinity.
Two of these cacti were in flower, with the larger one displaying two blossoms.
The other two cacti belong to the genus Escobaria. One (E. tuberculosa) has flowered several times already this year, while the other seemed to refuse to do so. However, after repeated rains, the Escobaria vivipara did produce one bud, which opened up today. While the blossom of E. vivipara is substantially larger than that of E. tuberculosa, the flowers look a little disorderly or unkempt to me. However, I still do appreciate it, when this plant does flower.

Harald

[hegar]

A_retusus x agavoides1.JPG (328.57 KiB) Viewed 2051 times

Hello everyone,
I just came back from a month-long vacation in Germany. As far as having had any of the cacti flower during my absence, I am only certain, that two of them did bloom while I was gone. One was the repeat bloomer Echinopsis eyriesii, the other - unfortunately - one of the Ariocarpus bravoanus plants. I had not yet seen that cactus in flower and have only had it for a little over one year. The sister plant may still bloom, but I am not sure about that.
Well, all is not lost. The day after my return another Ariocarpus member, this one a hybrid between A. retusus and A. agavoides, produced a pink flower. I am attaching two images showing the plant. I am glad, that most of the Ariocarpus cacti I purchased from Miles2go did survive. Now I have to hope for a dry winter, because the wetness of the cold soil is what most likely killed all members of this genus in the past years. I may have to go to placing these sensitive cacti in pots. Three big specimens of A. fissuratus ssp. fissuratus are sharing a big pot, which I shall place in a dry location during the winter months.

Harald

A_retusus x agavoides2.JPG (296.89 KiB) Viewed 2051 times

A_retusus x agavoides1.JPG (328.57 KiB) Viewed 2051 times