Ray's 2011 garden in Connecticut

RayC · Post by **RayC** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 4:54 pm

Not to much happening yet but a couple Cylindropuntia's are starting to peek out from under the snow. Couple of pretty good rain storms and a few melting days have knocked the snow pack down a lot.
The snow pack with the additional weight of freezing rain and sleet snapped off a couple arms on the Cylindropuntia kleiniae. Brought them in and I'kk see if I can get the to root.

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 11:56 pm

Ray good luck with that. Seeing all that snow is depressing to me. It's been nice here.

Post by **daiv** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 3:37 am

Hey Ray,
We were supposed to get rain yesterday, but it missed us. I'm OK with that. We did get a few inches of snow and the temps dropped - going to be zero F tonight. Into next week, we're supposed to finally see some melting going on. It is practically the equinox and it looks and feels little different than the solstice!

RayC · Post by **RayC** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:03 pm

Peterthecactusguy wrote:Ray good luck with that. Seeing all that snow is depressing to me. It's been nice here.

Depending on what has gone on underneath the snow that has been there for 3 months it could be more depressing

. I don't have to many new plants that hadn't gone through a winterso we shall see.

With temps in the 40's yesterday and damp air there was quite a bit more melting and a few Opuntia pads are showing as well as a couple melted donut holes around a couple other plants. Warmer temps forcast later this week and more stuff should open up.

Mr Monopoly · Post by **Mr Monopoly** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 7:35 pm

I saw on the "Places" tab up top OH only has three that grow here...all Opuntias...I have seen some growing in peoples landscaping which is suprising since I'm close to Cleveland...

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:46 pm

at the top of this page is a list compiled by John P. Weiser that are cold hardy cacti. You might want to take a look at the list. There are some cacti that will grow in the cold. He lives in Nevada where it gets cold and has snow.

RayC · Post by **RayC** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:34 am

Couple more warm days this week and more of the garden exposed. Haven't seen any for sure losses (although there is still time for that).
E. missouriensis is flat as a pancake as expected

I have forgotten which one this is, but doesn't look any worse then before snowfall

This one was supposed to be E. Vivapara but had yellow flower last summer?

Post by **daiv** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:05 am

I'm pretty sure that is not E. vivipara with a yellow flower. I don't think E. missouriensis either with bright yellow like that.

RayC · Post by **RayC** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:32 pm

daiv wrote:I'm pretty sure that is not E. vivipara with a yellow flower. I don't think E. missouriensis either with bright yellow like that.

I was thinking the same thing with the flower color.

For right now (the way it looks) I'll call it a survivor of our cool wet climate

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:27 pm

Looks coryphanthaish.

tumamoc · Post by **tumamoc** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:34 pm

How about Coryphantha sulcata?

RayC · Post by **RayC** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 7:43 pm

tumamoc wrote:How about Coryphantha sulcata?

Maybe or perhaps Coryphantha echinus?

I got it on fleabay from Texas

tumamoc · Post by **tumamoc** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:46 pm

Interesting

. Back in 2008, I also bought an eBay "Escobaria vivipara" cactus from someone in Texas that bloomed yellow. Here's mine...

Given that it was from Texas, I realize now that it was likely collected from the wild

.

RayC · Post by **RayC** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:25 pm

Snow was all gone in garden this past weekend (more in forcast though) and I managed to clean it up pretty well of leaves and more importantly acorns that were starting to sprout. Eight or ten spine tags on the hands, only a couple drew blood, and a dozen or so glochids needing removal and I was done. Not bad

.
Everything looks reasonable with one possible exception, voles found the garden over the winter and may have undermined and eaten roots off one plant. It is not one that has been happy in Connecticut so if I lose it I'll just replace it with something else. If I see more evidence of voles I'll serve them some peanut butter on a plate, that should take care of it.

RayC · Post by **RayC** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:59 pm

This one doesn't seem happy, and some others don't appear to be after snow left. Some however are starting to perk up a bit with a little warmth and sunshine.