Cactus lovers/growers?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Just wondering about the odds for other bike/cactus fans here....
Anyone else here on TE collect and grow cactus and succulents?
I do know that BikingMomof3 has a small indoor cactus collection, as do I.
Anyone else?

[Aggie_Ama]

Not so much cactus but DH brought me home a Verigated Agave a couple months ago. The grower at his nursery dug it up off the side of the road in West Texas and gave it to DH. It is quite spectacular and doesn't look like the ones you find in a nursery. I love the plant and it is completely low (no?) maintenance!

[Bikingmomof3]

Not so much cactus but DH brought me home a Verigated Agave a couple months ago. The grower at his nursery dug it up off the side of the road in West Texas and gave it to DH. It is quite spectacular and doesn't look like the ones you find in a nursery. I love the plant and it is completely low (no?) maintenance!

Ooooh it sounds wonderful! Do you have a picture? Please?

[bmccasland]

Now that I don't live in the southwest, I miss cactuses. I currently have a prickly pear that is not coping with the high humidity. Even though it's planted in sandy soil, I think it's rotting out from the bottom. But I did have blooms last month. Maybe I could keep a pincushion happy, and their halo of flowers is so cute.

On the otherhand, for the first time ever, I can grow African violets and ferns with no special care whatsoever.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I currently have a prickly pear that is not coping with the high humidity. Even though it's planted in sandy soil, I think it's rotting out from the bottom. But I did have blooms last month.

Wow, your prickly pear bloomed for you? Impressive. Did you take any pictures? Were they yellow flowers? Where did the plant come from when you got it?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Here is one of my cacti...a small 4" Gymnocalycium saglionis. I love the blue-ish color and way the new spines come out with a maroon tint.

[bmccasland]

Wow, your prickly pear bloomed for you? Impressive. Did you take any pictures? Were they yellow flowers? Where did the plant come from when you got it?

Lisa,
I bought it at a plant sale from our local botanical garden a couple of years ago. Yes, the flowers bloomed yellow. But no pictures. It's fairly small, only 4-5 inches in diameter.

Beth

[Aggie_Ama]

This is the most common Agave found at nurseries around here. It has kid of a blue tint, they get HUGE and are extremely popular for landscaping right now.


This is the Wikipedia photo of one like mine. Ours is of course smaller, I should take a picture of it tonight. It is growing really fast, proabably 2 ft tall?

[missymaya]

I have 2 cacti (hee hee) in my backyard but they're only 5 feet tall and I don't know the specific species. I think there semaphores. My BF's mom's cactus is flippin' jinormous, at least 8-9 feet. She just lets it sit there and do it's thing, it's amazing!
bmccasland, have you tried potting it first or planting in a really really sunny, dry spot? Or, try a different cactus (if you haven't already). Semaphore's grow well in sticky and humidity filled environments (which is why they do so well in Florida, Virgin Islands, and Jaimaca. I hope the cactus you does well, they're so nice.

[bmccasland]

bmccasland, have you tried potting it first or planting in a really really sunny, dry spot? Or, try a different cactus (if you haven't already). Semaphore's grow well in sticky and humidity filled environments (which is why they do so well in Florida, Virgin Islands, and Jaimaca. I hope the cactus you does well, they're so nice.

Missymaya - my cactus is in a little pot, sitting on a corner of the driveway. The hottest dryest sunnyest place I could find, for a piece of geography that gets something like 60+ inches annual rain fall. The kalanchoes seem to like it. I thought PPear would be happy too. What I'd really like is a "Christmas" cholla - I used to see them in the desert around Phoenix, when I worked for Maricopa Co. Parks at Lake Pleasant. Chollas really like hot and DRY, so it probably wouldn't be happy here one itty bitty bit.

Pre-Katrina there was a succulent nursery near-by, but I'm not sure if they survived. Guess I'll need to check the phone book.

My house is fairly small, so many of my house plants have been banished outside. Thus must cope with the high humidity on their own.

[Fredwina]

Saw these on my ride today:

BTW, those are grapevines, Cucamonga Valley style in the background

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Fredwina- those pads of that prickley pear are enormous! (can you tell I'm a Northern girl?)

Here is a website that really inspires me, such incredibly beautiful cacti and succulents, so beautifully potted and cared for:
http://www.southampton.bcss.org.uk/ShowC1.html
Note- there is more than just one page of pictures....click on "Go to next gallery" at the bottom...

[CyclChyk]

I love cacti but do not grow them. This one however, has graciously graced my yard........

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Wow, those are incredible agave! Can't wait to see a picture of your actual baby one!
Beth- I can't believe your p.pear bloomed when it was that small!

I got into cactus recently because I was tired of our 3 cats chewing on house plants, and I also didn't want to have to find a waterer when we go away for 2 weeks, etc. When investigating cacti & succulents, I was enchanted by their strange and bizarre forms- like beings from some other world. They seem to have a serene presence all their own. And my cats leave them alone!
I really love them, and they ask for so little in return!

[madscot13]

I can't believe this is what you PNW do with your overabundance of rain.

ps I have a cactus garden too- but only because my mom thinks I love them. I also have a delightful aloe plant growing in a starbuck's mug.