My flowering Cacti 2020

[hegar]

Hello Cactus Friends,
after a dry spell, all of a sudden a number of my plants were once again in flower. I am not posting a lot of images this time around, because the blossoms were either already closed at the time I returned from work or they did not look presentable.
We did have a "cold spell" (upper 80's to mid to high 90 degree Fahrenheit) and also a bit of rainfall. That triggered the flowering I am sure.
I had hoped to be able to place a nice image of a blooming Mammillaria grahamii with multiple blossoms in this thread. However, the plant only produced three blossoms, which were about to close.

M_grahamii3a.JPG (123.85 KiB) Viewed 3966 times

Another cactus that may flower tomorrow or did already bloom today was the pretty Thelocactus rinconensis var. freudenbergii. I do not have to work Friday, but probably tomorrow will be the last chance to see this plant in bloom this year.

T_rinconensis var freudenbergii5a.JPG (133.36 KiB) Viewed 3966 times

The third and last image is that of what I believe is a Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp. klinkerianus. It also may open the blossom tomorrow and I believe it did flower today. So my chances of seeing this plant in bloom on Friday are not very good. However, I did photograph it during the first week of July.

T_schmiedickeanus ssp klinkerianus9a.JPG (109.13 KiB) Viewed 3966 times

I also did have some flowering by the Echinopsis eyriesii and today also of the Thelocactus bicolor var. schottii. The latter produced two blossoms, which could not fully open, because they were squeezed by some developing fruits.


Harald

[hegar]

Hello Cactus Friends,

since my last posting two days ago a lot of things have happened in my cactus garden. It must have been happening, because of the recent rains in the area and a slight cooling of the temperature that went along with it. We do have what is known as a "barometer bush" which is also commonly known as "Texas Sage", with the scientific name Leucophyllum frutescens, that responds to rainfall by flowering. I noticed, that our native hedgehog cactus Echinocactus horizonthalonius behaves the same way.
Well, there are a number of photos I am going to place here. The first ones do show the continuation of the last two plants presented; the Thelocactus rinconensis and the Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp. klinkerianus. Both plants did flower once more and despite of not being able to take a photo of them the first day of blooming, they did open their blossoms again the next day.
So here are two images of these two cacti.

Thelo_rinconensis var freudenbergii8.JPG (133.95 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

T_schmiedickeanus ssp klinkerianus11.JPG (95.06 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

Another cactus, this one a native, which does flower repeatedly during the year, is the "corn cob cactus" Escobaria tuberculosa. This plant is one that was rescued from local development (construction site) a number of years ago.

Esc_tuberculosa14.JPG (133.12 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

Another cactus in flower is the fast-growing Ferocactus hamatacanthus. It seems to love the location I planted it when it was still a small plant.

F_hamatacanthus11.JPG (176.07 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

F_hamatacanthus7.JPG (147.37 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

F_hamatacanthus10.JPG (104.31 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

One of the more recently obtained Turbinicarpus plants also produced a flower. The blossom was so tiny, that I almost overlooked it. I do have a label, which tells its name, but this cactus became separated from it. So I do not the species.

Turbi_sp1.JPG (95.44 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

I was also able to finally have a good image taken of the Obregonia denegrii I purchased in early March of this year. I do love this cactus, which is also flowering several times a year. However, I have yet to be able to keep it alive past a winter. So this one is planted in a very well draining mineral growing medium. Perhaps it will be the first plant to actually be still alive when spring arrives next year.

O_denegrii13.JPG (101.78 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

O_denegrii14.JPG (91.08 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

The next genus/species of cacti in bloom is the native "Eagle Claw" cactus Echinocactus horizonthalonius mentioned above. Three plants were in flower yesterday and today. It is one of the prettier cacti growing abundantly here where I live.

Echinocactus horizonthalonius8.JPG (157.66 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

Echinocactus horizonthalonius6.JPG (135.97 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

The final plant which flowered today is a kind of Echinopsis sp. The flowers are smaller than those produced by my Echinopsis eyriesii, which also did flower yesterday and will do at least one or more times. I do not know the species of that plant, which was given to me by one of my local cactus club members.

Echinopsis sp8.JPG (130.6 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

Echinopsis sp9.JPG (116.09 KiB) Viewed 3939 times

So, that seems to be all for the next few weeks. However, I am never sure about a statement like that, because these cacti do oftentimes surprise me. They can have a noticeable flower bud for many weeks and nothing happens, and another time, you do not even see a flower bud and within a day or so the plant is flowering!

Harald

[hegar]

Hello Cacti Friends,
today I am adding two images to this thread. The first one does show the largest number of blossoms I have ever had at any one time on this cactus, a Ferocactus hamatacanthus. The second one shows the two Astrophytum asterias hybrids in bloom.
The images are not of top quality, because they were taken after I returned from work at 7:30 p.m.. By then the light situation was not optimal and the plants had started to close their flowers.

Harald

F_hamatacanthus12a.JPG (136.2 KiB) Viewed 3911 times

A_asterias hybrid9a.JPG (138.12 KiB) Viewed 3911 times

[anttisepp]

Beautiful plants Harald, many thanks for sharing!
You're blessed to grow cacti outdoors all year round,
they look as in nature, no, better than in nature of cause.

[hegar]

Thank you very much for your encouraging input, anttisepp. Yes, it is truly nice, to be able to grow most cacti in the ground. Especially those kinds, that grow very tall or produce a lot of stems, do flourish when not limited to a pot.
Today another repeat-bloomer was flowering. It did take a little summer break, last blooming on June 26th. The plant is an Astrophytum capricorne.

Harald

A_capricorne22a.JPG (112.9 KiB) Viewed 3872 times

[hegar]

Hello Cactus Friends,
I was surprised to find out that several cacti had been blooming today. The Ferocactus hamatacanthus was still going strong, displaying three blossoms. Also, one of my Thelocactus bicolor plants did bloom. In addition, both of my Thelocactus rinconensis var freudenbergii plants had opened their blossoms, as did one small clump of our native Coryphantha macromeris.
I am posting just one flower picture of the Thelocactus rinconensis var freudenbergii and two of the Coryphantha macromeris, which did flower last on June 27th of this year.

Harald

T_rinconensis var freudenbergii9a.JPG (124.78 KiB) Viewed 3846 times

C_macromeris6a.JPG (176.89 KiB) Viewed 3846 times

C_macromeris7a.JPG (137.54 KiB) Viewed 3846 times

[hegar]

Today two plants did have flowers. One of them is the Opuntia leptocaulis (pencil cholla). It had only one blossom. The other is one of my two Astrophytum capricorne plants. This one is of the "senile" variety and last flowered in April of this year.

Harald

A_capricorne var senile9.JPG (116.49 KiB) Viewed 3799 times

[hegar]

Hello Cacti Friends,

here is a quick presentation of the cacti that flowered over the weekend. All of the plants shown are repeat bloomers.

Harald

A_capricorne var senile9.JPG (116.49 KiB) Viewed 3758 times

Echinop_eyeriesii9.JPG (164.13 KiB) Viewed 3758 times

Echino_eyriesii10.JPG (117.96 KiB) Viewed 3758 times

Thelo_bicolor var bolaensis10.JPG (94.56 KiB) Viewed 3758 times

Thelo_rinconensis var freudenbergii9.JPG (134.71 KiB) Viewed 3758 times

Thelo_rinconensis var freudenbergii10.JPG (127.45 KiB) Viewed 3758 times

[dinfelu]

hello Harald



I have spent a very pleasant time looking at the photos of your cacti, very beautiful colors and shapes and you have something that I do not dare to do ... plant them in the ground ... I do not dare because in Mexico City we have rains almost every day of the summer ... June July August and part of September there are rains in the afternoon and my fear is that the roots will rot ... so apart from admiring your work, I admire your courage to have them outside pots

regards

[mikethecactusguy]

Plants act differently when in the ground. Roots go deeper and since you have a unlimited space for water run off they are not prone to rot like in pots.

[dinfelu]

hello mike



the problem is that I no longer have space because apart from cacti I have other types of plants, almost all in pots, but several planted in the ground and they have already occupied the available space

Thanks for your comment

regards

[hegar]

Hello Cactus Friends,
@ dinfelu and mikethecactusguy,
well, I am going for growing some of my cacti in pots also, but only those which require the most exacting care or are and remain so small, that I can barely find them each spring. Also, thus far the ants have not yet made their nests in the pots.
@ dinfelu:
Growing cacti in the ground in a place, where it rains almost daily can be a challenge. However, there are some cultural techniques, which might make it possible. You can plant the cacti on a sloped bed toward the top. Also, use a thick layer of very coarse growing medium, e.g. pumice. In addition, it would help, if there were a cover over the plants made of some kind of plastic. That would divert the rain from falling on the ground where the cacti are growing and could also be used to diminish the amount of light the plants receive. Unfortunately, my wife would not agree to have such a structure in my front yard, where almost all of my cacti are growing.

OK, enough of that. I just wanted to present the latest flowering cacti. Today there were 4 1/2 plants in flower. All are repeat bloomers, except the one I called a 1/2 flowering plant. Nevertheless, I am going to post images of 3 1/2 of them.
The first one is a Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp. klinkerianus. I do love that kind of name, because "Schmiedicke" and "Klinker" are German words and I am a native German.

T_schmiedickeanus ssp klinkerianus17.JPG (80.77 KiB) Viewed 3636 times

T_schmiedickeanus ssp klinkerianus18.JPG (93.04 KiB) Viewed 3636 times

Next in line is my one and only - and I hope, that it will survive the winter - Obregonia denegrii.

Obregonia denegrii16.JPG (86.28 KiB) Viewed 3636 times

Obregonia denegrii20.JPG (84.91 KiB) Viewed 3636 times

The third is a Thelocactus bicolor var. bolaensis

Thelo_bicolor var bolaensis11.JPG (136.5 KiB) Viewed 3636 times

And the last 1/2 one is another Thelocactus. This time the species heterochromus. I do like this plant for its nice red and white spines and also for its large flower. Today the cactus would not produce its big blossome. So I went ahead and phtographed the fully extended flower bud.
Tomorrow it should be in bloom. My wife will hopefully go and take a photo of the open blossom. I did show her where to locate the plant this afternoon.

Harald

Thelo_heterochromus2.JPG (132.13 KiB) Viewed 3636 times

[dinfelu]

hello Harald

I have some cacti in seedbeds maybe when they are of size and age try some by planting them in the ground, I appreciate your comment

on the other hand, I like your Thelocactus heterochromus a lot, we'll see the flower completely open

regards

[hegar]

Hello dinfelu,
I only realized, after I took the image of the Thelocactus heterochromus, that the plant has some brown spots. I went ahead and looked at the 2019 images of that cactus and they were not present a year ago. So I am going to take a closer look at the cactus and perhaps do a treatment.
We have had a pretty tough kind of year for cacti here in El Paso thus far, reaching 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.8 degrees Celsius) one day and exceeding 100 degrees F many more days. However, I do not believe, that the splotches were the result of these high temperatures.

Harald

[MikeInOz]

The E horizonthalonius is superb. I put in a few seeds last spring. They are rather slow!!