Ron's Log

Is This A Cereus?

This is a neighbor's cactus. The bloom is identical to the ones I get on my night blooming cereus, but the body of this cactus is quite different from mine. Simply another variety of cereus?

Yet More Cactus Flowers

These started blooming while I was away in Saline Valley:

Fresh Cactus Photos

Another Cactus

Not sure if those are going to be flower buds or just more cactus. It formed similar, but much smaller buds last year and they eventually dried up and fell away, so I think those were flowers.

An Update On The Phallic Cactus

More Cactus Blooms

In my yard:

Damn These Cacti!

This flower appeared today on another cactus that's been growing in my front yard for at least three years, but this is the first time it's bloomed.

Cactus Doing Well

I transplanted a single cactus pad into the ground about a year ago, and look how well this thing is doing now!

Very Local Cactus Flowers

Now I only have to walk a few steps to see flowering cacti.

Saguaros Destroyed In Palm Springs

Two saguaro cacti on South Fern Canyon Drive in Palm Drive were chopped down by vandals this past Friday night. The Desert Sun article doesn't mention any suspects, but considering the work required to cut down two saguaros, I'd have to guess it was done by somebody who was really angry.

Before and After, The "Grand One"

Photos by rejuvesite.

This is the "Grand One," the world's tallest saguaro, which stood near Horseshoe Lake in Arizona. Although it was officially 46 feet tall, rejuvesite says that in death it measured 52 feet. The Cave Creek Complex fire burned this area in 2005. Subsequent erosion weakened the cactus, and high winds in October 2007 finally did it in.

Pessimistic news story from June 28, 2005. More optimistic news story from July 23, 2005, when it was discovered that the "Grand One" had suffered only limited scorching.

Here's a photo at its base while still standing, giving you a good idea of its size.

Another pretty photo in life. More of rejuvesite's photos of the "Grand One."

Bancroft Gardens

Last Saturday, Emrys and I went to Bancroft Gardens in Walnut Creek, California. This is a great place. It's a 3-acre garden of mostly succulents and other drought-tolerant plants. Ruth Bancroft started collecting succulents in the 1950s and began moving them from her greenhouses to this garden in 1972. She'll be 100 years old in October 2008, and I think she's still in the process of moving things from the greenhouses to the garden. At least she's still gardening - even getting down and dirty in it.

The place is overwatered with its own well water which, our tour guide told us, is rich in boron. That's bad for some plants, I take it, and those anti-boronic vegetables have died, clearing the way for the boron-tolerant.

As a result of all the water and being in an environment not quite as hot and dry as Our Favorite Desert, a lot of the desert plants in Bancroft Gardens have grown gi-fucking-normous. They've got yuccas as tall as redwoods and agaves with flowers so huge that to stand near them on a windy day is to risk swift death. Here's a page where they document the whole process of the flowering of a Agave marmorata.

You can see my set of photos here, and these are a few samples:

Cereus Blooms Again

My cereus cactus showed some signs of mild stress after I transplanted it, but recently it's begun to show new growth, and this week it has shot out four blooms, three one night and one the next.

Cactus Slim

The story of Slim Moorten, founder of Moorten's Botanical Gardens in Palm Springs. Scanned from the February 1969 issue of Desert Magazine. Best viewed large.

How Does He Do It?

Jim Cornett at the Desert Sun says he "interviewed 15 people at random who live in the Southwest and within a few miles of naturally occurring ocotillos."

[Exciting ocotillo photos here].

Mr. Cornett says that 14 of these "random" (we already know this sort of thing is never random) individuals said the ocotillo is a cactus. The 15th person actually didn't know if it was animal or vegetable! Let's give that last poor soul some credit for knowing that it is neither mineral nor virus.

Was he interviewing children? People with severe handicaps? Probably not. Every one of the 15 knew how to correctly pronounce "ocotillo."

I'm totally mystified. I don't think I could find 15 people around here to misidentify the plant, even if I really tried.

Second Bloom On The Jesus Cactus

No End Of Cactus Flowers

Jesus Cactus Blooms

I call it the Jesus Cactus because I bought it from Jesus in Beaumont (or was it Banning - I can't remember which is which). Sorry for the poor quality of lighting, but I saw the bloom had opened after dark, and I wanted a photo now just in case it's only a night bloomer. Maybe a better photo tomorrow.

Here's another one that's just bloomed in Tucson. They must have a schedule!

UPDATE: Daylight photos of my new cactus bloom:

Even More DHS Photos

Today's Cactus Photos

A few close shots of the phallic cactus, giving less emphasis to its phallic nature, plus one seen along Palm Drive.

Phallic Cactus Growth

The current state of my phallic cacti. Previous photos can be seen at the following links: November 2004, April 2005 and May 2006.

Muscles

Photo by oybay.

Just Opened Today

These cacti have been working up to blooming for a couple of months now. I got them just last year at Moorten's Botanical Gardens, where that Moorten boy warned me they would produce huge, striking blooms. No liar he.

Cactus Flowers

Samuelson's Rock Again

Today was a GOPS hike in Joshua Tree N.P. to Samuelson's Rock from Quail Springs. Photos here:

Cereus Flowering

My cereus has been blooming quite nicely lately. Here are photos of three different blooms, each coming two days apart. There's never more than one at a time and each bloom lasts only one night, of course.

New Cactus Flower

I was completely surprised to see this cactus flower in my front yard this afternoon. Even as late as this morning I thought it was just growing a new leaf, or maybe even fruit. This cactus started as a cutting (actually a "fall off") from a friend's cactus in Cathedral City cove. It and its twin have done well in pots, and this one has done VERY well since I depotted it and put it in the ground earlier in the summer.

Stapelia

Commonly called the "Star Cactus," this is not a cactus, but it is a succulent that originated in Africa. This one grew from a cutting I got from Tim at the 333 Resort in Palm Springs. This is its first flowering. I transplanted it into my front yard just a few months ago, after it suffered in a pot over the winter.

Bees on Cholla

Saw these on some over-watered cholla in the town of Joshua Tree.

Cholla Garden

On my way to see the burned areas in Joshua Tree N.P. I, naturally, had to stop and get photos in the morning light of the cholla garden:

Cactus Photos

Mo' Cereus

Get out your cereus bloom chart, 'cause here are more:

Cereus

Another bloom on my cereus, but this time on a different branch, in case you're keeping track.

Cactus Thorns In Your Skin

Here's a nice little list of suggestions of ways to remove cactus thorns from your skin. They all sound workable except the first one on the list: "Use a magnifying glass to get those buggers out & remember to wash with alcohol." I guess you go out in the sun and use the magnifying glass to focus the sun's rays on the thorn and burn it out.

The Cereus Blooms Double!

This happened a couple of nights ago. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've had two blooms open simultaneously on that cactus.

Cereus Bloom

I've looked it up, and the "Big Boy" cactus that I have is some kind of Cereus. It's not the famous night blooming Cereus, but it did bloom at night. The buds for a couple of blooms have been forming for about a week. Last night about sunset I saw that one was sure to pop open the next day, but when I stepped outside about 10:30 PM to admire the moon, I saw the huge white flower fully open. This is the first time it's bloomed since I moved it to the desert. I got a few photos of it this morning (including two with bees), and now the flower is dead...but there's a second bud that's ready to go.

Cactii

And a succulent, I guess...

Phallic Cactus Blooms Richly

Moorten's Botanical Gardens Yesterday

Phallic Cactus (2)

If you prefer your phallic cactii to be pretty, Fuzzy offers this photo.

6 Cactii

Close Ups

"Cholla Garden"

A large 360° panorama in the "Cholla Garden" in Joshua Tree N.P. I've never seen such a dense growth of cholla. I also got to see one tourist who wasn't as cautious as the signs warned her to be. She had a 4 inch stub of cholla sticking to her jeans and two women with her trying to help her get it off. Judging from the loud fuss she was making, the quills had already penetrated to her skin. Past the point of no return.

That Big Cactus

Here are a couple photos of that big cactus that I neglected yesterday:

The Cactus Plants

Time for a re-inventory and update on my various cactus and succulent plants. Several picked up some kind of rot in the last month or so that I was at Palm Springs. They got indirect sunlight most of the day and were fairly sheltered from the wind. They may have been getting too much moisture. Some died in Palm Springs. Some waited for the drying wind and sun of Desert Hot Springs to kill them. Here's how the population stands now:

The old jade which has seemed close to death a couple of times, but keeps coming back. It looked bad when I brought it to DHS, but it's recovering nicely, showing new growth all over and developing the redness they get when exposed to LOTS of direct sunlight.

I think this may be the jade that I got from Barry in the early 1980s, but my memory is fuzzy on that point.

The "thin" cactus that I got from Michael. I don't know its real name. Was looking kind of shaky for awhile, then began to recover in DHS. But now it's in stasis, I think. Instead of developing new leaves at the growing points, it's dropping them. At the top of the longest branch the leaves are holding, but they aren't turning to face the sun, which makes me think something's broken. Some of the lower branches seem to be wind damaged, but I see these cactuses growing in DHS, so I expect it to survive. It seems also to develop the same redness as the jade plant:

The "phallic" cactus I got from Ken a few weeks ago (it doesn't need a better name). I think it's grown noticeably, but I don't know why. Ken was keeping it well watered in full sun, same as me. The only difference is about 500 feet of altitude. This morning I noticed it had suddenly developed these gold-brown nubs all around the plant at a mid-point. These might be the beginnings of flowers, but I don't know the plant well enough to say for sure.

I don't want any comments using the words "foreskin" or "smegma." Okay, boys?

The formerly little aloe that I got from George. This thing did fabulously in Palm Springs. And it should have since it's a native here. So I was surprised when I moved it to DHS and it quickly went from brilliant green to death-pallor brown. But it didn't die, and other aloe owners tell me theirs sometimes develop the same color in response to sun. Looking down into the heart of it I see green flesh and new growth, so I think it's all right, but I keep it under the porch roof now so it gets very little direct sun.

Oh, my, I see I forgot to get a photo of what I call "the big cactus," the one I got from Michael, which did well on my windowsill and Boston and did even better here. It's showing no signs of illness or stress, but it hasn't gotten any new growth since moving to DHS. I had to plant it in an excessively large pot just to keep it from blowing over. I'll get a photo later.

This ugly agave I dug up from my brother Dave's yard in Tucscon in the late 1980s. Can't kill it. Eventually it's going right into the ground.

Here below are three orphaned plants left by the previous homeowners. Obviously they were sitting right out by the yard when somebody applied grass seed. I'm keeping them alive and will eventually plant them in the ground.

Cactus Lube

Water soluble? Seen in Brawley, California.

Housewarming

Look at this wonderful cactus Ken gave me for a housewarming gift. I love it! I might even marry it.

Flowering Cactus

Again Moorten's

A black cactus.

Golden barrel cactus.

Cactus Top

Seen at Moorten's.

Cactus Fruit

In Mission Creek.

Cactus Buds

Backlight

Backlighted cactus at Moorten's.

Cactus Blooms

Cactus

Don't ask me what it's called, but this was seen at Moorten's.

Cholla

More Moorten's

Growing Down

Spotted this unusual planting at Moorten's botanical garden.

Fat Yellow Cactus Bloom

Joshua Trees

The actual Joshua tree, said Darwin Spearing, a ranger and interpreter at Joshua Tree National Park, "turns out to be the canteen of the desert."

New Growth

A few weeks ago I decided the cactuses were stable enough that I could begin to fertilize them. After only two waterings with fertilizer I noticed today that some of them were sending out dramatic [in cactus terms, that is] new growth:

Yellow Blooms

Happened to spot this nice lighting on some yellow blooming cactus at Moorten's when I was there last week with George.

Cactus Buds

Some cactuses have wild looking buds.

Today's Flowers

Agave bloom and a blooming ocotillo

Ocotillo bloom

Cholla

Homey little description of the cholla cactus, photos of which will show up here occasionally. I'm a bit surprised that when I go hiking with others no one warns his fellow hikers when he spots a cholla near the trail, even though they warn of cat's claw, which is merely thorny. OTOH, I still have yet to see anyone get themselves impaled with a cholla.