PTCG's 2012 topic.

[fanaticactus]

I guess it goes back to the old "familiarity breeds contempt" saying. A sister-in-law visited us back in NY many years ago and was fascinated with the "beautiful" creeping, invasive ground-cover weed with a small purple flower we had all over the place and couldn't eradicate. She wanted to take a clump back to AZ on the plane with her. I forgot if she ever actually did take some--don't know how it would ever survive on a plane & then in the AZ heat and sand.

[Peterthecactusguy]

yes. I sorta know what you mean. In my experience I can't grow any flowers or anything that grow well on the East Coast. I would love to get a RedBud tree but they won't grow here, at least not the eastern ones

[Peterthecactusguy]

From Today.

Sulcorebutia arenacea with plenty of it's weird orange flowers that appear from the base of the plant.
O. engelmannii
C. acanthacarpa
Vlad in all his glory!
Getting closer..
Another one already

[Minime8484]

Sweet!! Great color varieties!

[hegar]

Hello Peter,
is "Vlad the Impaler" an Opuntia aciculatus? I know that those do produce red blossoms. I also like the Echinocereus that is budding. That is E. rigidissimus ssp. rubispinus isn't it?
You are doing a great job with the cultivation of your cacti.

Harald

[Peterthecactusguy]

Harald yes, Vlad is in fact an Opuntia aciculata and yes the Echinocereus is a rigidissimus.. dunno if its the subspecies or not..

Tristian yes, not every plant is boring old Sonoran yellow

Most of our plants are yellow that are natives

[Peterthecactusguy]

O. engelmannii
Cylindropuntia spinsior
(these were two of my top plants for new growth) (C. spinsior is going to bloom too)
day two of the orange flowers
O. santa-rita ish plant in the neighbor's yard. I dont think it is, it has thin pads, but I dont know which one it is.
Bloom from teh same plant
And that is all from today. Bud watch on the Sagauros started yesterday. Mine so far have none.

[Peterthecactusguy]

some new stuff around the yard.
F. splendens with new growth.
S. vaupelianus with an offset
Sacred Datura in bloom.
O. engelmannii
More from the same plant
C. leptocaulis from Black Canyon Trail in bloom
O. engelmannii/O. phaeacantha hybrid
O. microdasys
day old O. englmannii flower.
Vlad's last flower
New growth on a cat turd (I mean Pine cone) cholla
What do we have here? BUDS!

[Arjen]

nice new stuff peter!

[gemhunter178]

Cat turd! Cool new stuff though!

[Peterthecactusguy]

Gemhunter, someone else called it that and it made me chuckle and the name has stuck lolz

Arjen,
thanks Opuntia are coming along nicely. A few years ago I was bummed out cause none of them bloomed. This year all of them bloomed but a few of the smaller ones I got from John Wisner.

[hegar]

Hello Peter,
it is nice to see, that your big Saguaro cactus is going to flower. Here in El Paso we lost all of these plants during the cold snap of February 2011. It was a really sad time, especially when one considers how much money these plants cost nowadays. I have heard something of close to $100.00 per foot of plant length.
My Opuntia aciculata is not going to flower this year, but slowly adding more and more cladodes. I do have some hope to see its blossom next year though.
I do like that prickly pear cactus with those big round pads fringed in violet at the edge and around the areoles.
Do you think that this feature is normal for this plant or is it the result of some cold weather you were experiencing during the last winter?

Harald

[hegar]

Oh, I forgot to say something else. You too do have what looks like either an Echinocereus pectinatus or possibly an Echinocereus rigidissimus ssp. rubispinus. What did the plant's label state it is? Which one would you rather have in your collection? I do have some plants that are labeled "Echinocereus coahuilense" and talked today to the grower, asking him to explain the name tag. He told me, that the two plants are E. pectinatus, but that the stock is from a population of plants in the Mexican state of Coahuila. Now I am really interested to see, what their flower will look like. I am quite convinced, however, that I am going to love the blossom just as much as all the other pretty Echinocerei in my collection.

Harald

[Peterthecactusguy]

oh the Echinocereus I have came with the name Echinocereus rubispinius, which I think is an old name for E. rigidissimus ssp rubispinius.

As for the Opuntia I think it's O. gooseliana and it's normal when it's under stress. this winter wasn't too bad, our low was 31. 4. We had light frosts three times.
sorry to hear about losing saguaros they are wonderful cacti. They grow well, (even tho it's slowly, they put on 6-12 inches every year just takes them a long time to get to being really tall!). I think all of mine are going to bloom this year that are tall enough. they have been slow to put out buds in my yard because I sit so low.. the cold air comes in from the river valley...

On the O. aciculata give it a year or two. Mine last year had about 5-10 flowers, this year mine put on around 30. It really likes it here. I know it is native to TX but it's a beautiful plant, with great flowers and neat spines. Course I nicknamed mine Vlad the Impaler because of all the insects it caught in it's spines. It was crazy how many there were. This year not as many, so maybe they learned
Whatever the flowers look like on my Echinocereus they are going to be brilliant I am sure Any day now. probably bloomed today while I was working on the install

[Peterthecactusguy]

oh the Echinocereus I have came with the name Echinocereus rubispinius, which I think is an old name for E. rigidissimus ssp rubispinius.

As for the Opuntia I think it's O. gooseliana and it's normal when it's under stress. this winter wasn't too bad, our low was 31. 4. We had light frosts three times.
sorry to hear about losing saguaros they are wonderful cacti. They grow well, (even tho it's slowly, they put on 6-12 inches every year just takes them a long time to get to being really tall!). I think all of mine are going to bloom this year that are tall enough. they have been slow to put out buds in my yard because I sit so low.. the cold air comes in from the river valley...

On the O. aciculata give it a year or two. Mine last year had about 5-10 flowers, this year mine put on around 30. It really likes it here. I know it is native to TX but it's a beautiful plant, with great flowers and neat spines. Course I nicknamed mine Vlad the Impaler because of all the insects it caught in it's spines. It was crazy how many there were. This year not as many, so maybe they learned
Whatever the flowers look like on my Echinocereus they are going to be brilliant I am sure Any day now. probably bloomed today while I was working on the install