Accessible Gardening: #19 Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners , 5 by Agavegirl1

Agavegirl1 wrote:
Good Morning Carrie and all,
Hope you're enjoying the oddity pictures (Zoe, me and cacti) :D Thanks for not saying I'm old. Have to disagree with prickly though. (LOL)

Yes, that is quite a cactus isn't it. Probably my favorite in the area. It is in a residential neighborhood on a road just behind the San Tan Mountain Regional Park. There's a few taller in the park but none as "big" around from my estimation nor as "perfectly" formed. To me it just is so iconic of what a Saguaro should be when one closes their eyes and imagines the plant. I have always been so drawn to this one.
At my former house when I had to go to Wal-Mar there was a back road behind the store that led up to this cactus. I never failed to stop and visit it. I would always just park and look at it a few minutes or get out and just stare up at it awhile in awe before going home. People whose yard it sat on the very edge next to the street probably thought I was butt nuts off my rocker. The few times I saw them they actually waved at me though! (LOL)
Figured out I was harmless enough and just enjoying the cactus. Probably had other people gawking at the thing too. Yep. My friend is indeed a BIG boy! Again for scale I'm 5 foot 3 inches. but I'm also sitting on a rock that's probably over two feet tall. I estimate my esteemed friend and teacher to be about 175 years old or more. Closer to 200 and probably nearing the end of his life. :[
His one arm fell off and I don't know why. Looked at it and didn't see any rot or disease. Probably just age or perhaps got hit by lightening. Very common occurrence with these exceedingly old and tall Saguaros. (This happened back East a lot with tall trees.)

O.K. here's some Saguaro cactus facts I learned in 8 years:
I live in a really special place because the Saguaro only grows in the Southern Sonoran Desert which is Southern AZ, Northern Mexico and parts of Baja California in Mexico and even then not everywhere in all these places. It's size is determined by temperature and precipitation. It can grow from sea level to 4,000 feet. When it grows on hills and mountains it grows on South facing slopes. (In the winter we can see the tops of mountains and the snow on them if they're up high!).
The first 8 years of it's life it grows under a "nurse tree" like a Palo Verde, Mesquite or Ironwood using it a shade and protection. It only grows 1 to 1 and a half INCH per year! After this time the nurse tree dies. The cactus does not produce its first flower until age 35. Beautiful huge white-cream bloom that gets pollinated by a bat! It only blooms from April-early June so that's a great time to be out to see them. :D
Also temps are nice here which is why I have all those pics of me in that dusty park in grubby over sized hiking clothes and my old military boots.
At 70 years old the Saguaro is usually 6 and a half feet tall. By age 70-100 it is around 15 to 16 feet tall and is getting it's first arms (aww! Puberty!). If precipitation is low it could take up to 100 years. Now most get arms and some don't ever. They just grow straight up like a pole. The reason for this is unknown. Nothing wrong with the plant. Just a growth pattern.
It isn't a mature adult until it is 125 years old and weighing approximately 6 tons! From age 125 to 200 which is adult it weighs between 3,200 pounds and 4,800 pounds! It has an average height of 40 to 60 feet.
The tallest in the world lives in Maricopa county (next county to mine) and is 78 feet tall and 10 feet around! There's also a Saguaro in Bartlett Lake, AZ which is close to the Carefree and Phoenix area that has 30 plus arms.
This plant will never grow from cuttings. It only grows from seeds. YIKES right as if we have time for that. Its root system is interesting in that it has one center root that is about 2 to 3 feet long and all the rest are very shallow under the soil but spread out horizontally and are as long as the plant is tall. Basically a 40 foot cactus has 40 foot wide roots.
As for the amount of arms they get, the direction they point, etc. nobody knows. That is a mystery. They haven't figured that out. My friend and teacher won't tell me. He said it is a secret all mighty Saguaros must keep as part of their sacred wisdom. They pass it on only to each other.
There's also a $10,000.00 fine and up to 2 years in jail for moving, harming or taking/attempting to take a Saguaro cactus. If you damage it or any part of it, depending upon severity it could be a $2,000.00 to $5,000.00 fine and considered a misdemeanor. It isn't an endangered species but it is a protected one.
Also they have a mutant one(about 1 in every 500) that doesn't grow straight up and then branch off in arms. It grows up and forms a fan at the top and kind of curls around. It is a Cristate or "crested" Saguaro.

So now that you're a Saguaro expert what do you think? Quite a plant! I wish you guys could come and see them. I know you would enjoy them even though you can't get about easily there's plenty to enjoy just driving around and never getting out of the car. Some of the most amazing plants I've seen and photographed are on the sides of roads, in the landscaping of parking lots and subdivision common areas. And as I've shown right in my own neighborhood!
Pic#1 Zoe at our "GreytGathering" that happens in AZ once a year for all owners, rescue organizations, etc. Charity and fundraising event for them. Zoe has on her old racing slick from the track and her pretty red and black necklace. She participated in a "fun run" against other dogs there.
Pic #2 My DH who is 6' 6" standing next to an Ocotillo.
Pic #3 A painting I did of a Saguaro (sold quite well) :D
Pic #4 The inside of a Saguaro when it dies. This is the skeleton. It is actually a tree with the green succulent outer covering over it.
Pic #5 The painting of the Agave that I did. (sold quite well) :D This was what I wanted to put next to my name but I don't have/own an avatar. :(