Today's Color

Just some yard color from today. First up, M. spinosissima ssp. spinosissima

M. supertexta. Should have gotten this shot earlier in the day before the flower started napping...

M. karwinskiana ssp. nejapensis has been going like this for months now...

M. hahniana

More M. hahniana

M. azureus

Caesalpinia mexicana

Rosemary, always a strong winter bloomer.

Eremophila maculata, just about to explode.

Tetraneuris acaulis seems to flower constantly

Caesalpinia hybrid 'Sierra Sun'

It has been so warm, a Pomegranate is arousing from it's winter slumber rather early..

Great pics. Your plants look extremely happy!

M. supertexta

I'm so happy you introduced me to these Mammillarias that can grow in the ground here in AZ. I have Mammillarias but none of these. All the ones I have are in pots and seem to prefer afternoon shade. I'm definitely going to look for the ones you are showing.

Thanks Nancy, happy to spread the joy! My method of finding these guys was pretty simple really. I just shopped nurseries in the summer for plants already out in full sun. Several of my Mamms come from Acacia Nursery in the Tucson area, where pretty much everything is in full sun. I also figure that any cottony cactus should take full sun, else what's the point of all the cotton? The problem for you may be hardiness, I'm pretty sure you're a tad cooler than Fountain Hills, and so many Mamms are borderline in that regard (9b & 10a), though once again, if they can survive Tucson, you should be fine, right? I now have 11 varieties, some are definitely experiments, but all are incredibly responsive to bright sunlight, so much so that flowers begin closing upon the passage of a single cloud. I suspect the reason Mamms tend to reside in the shade of thick brush and wedged under Chollas is for protection from grazers rather than sunlight.

Those are some very happy looking cacti. Smart idea to look for plants that have already been accommodated to full sun. I have learned the hard way that it can take months before a greenhouse-grown cactus will be able to handle real exposure. It's very frustrating. About the cotton, that's been my observation too in trying to get these plants into the sun. The quickest ones to tolerate Baja California rays have been the ones with the type of spines that act as natural sunscreen. Like M. plumosa, for example... totally impervious to daylong sun because of the feathery shielding. Or M. dioica, the local Mamm, which has a ferocious nest of hooked spines.

Can you leave these plants to their own devices in the ground in Arizona, or do they require irrigation?

Rosemary is an excellent plant in a xeric garden. It's quite popular locally, not so much because it's used in cooking, but because it requires so little water to thrive (and flower).

This message was edited Jan 30, 2012 6:20 PM

Thank you, other than native and barrel cacti, we have everything on a xeric drip.

This message was edited Jan 31, 2012 7:43 AM

Great looking plants and I agree on the rosemary, I do need a new bush myself - its always fragrant and great for cooking - lovely plant to have.

Melocactus flowers finally open!

Beautiful plants GermanStar! What are your summer temps like?

Thank you! Highs 102°F-112°F, lows 82°F-92°F through July.

I think in 2011 we were in the 90's at night through most of August too. I just hope that won't continue this year. What is xeric drip? I water my cacti myself and have no drip on them.

Xeric drip is a drip system that uses mostly 0.5 gal per hour emitters. And yes, last August was horrifying. I lost a few plants to that swell, though no cacti or Agaves.

Just keeps getting better.

M. hahniana cluster

That Melocactus is fantastic. It doesn't look like the top of a cactus, but rather the candy "noughat". I have 4 Melocactus that have lost their roots. They have a ball on the base but no roots and they look fine. Could that have been too much water? I put them in lightly moist soil surrounded by small rocks and placed them under the front porch so they won't get watered except as i do it. What causes this. The same thing has happened to some Notocactus ubelmannianus. Very strange. Xuling

I wish I knew, but I'm certainly no expert. I know Melocactus need regular watering during the winter, i.e. do not go dormant.

very curious indeed. thanks for the info. Xuling

Mammillaria supertexta

Completely out of control.

You sure raise a flag for mamms. They are beautiful!!!! cll

Today is a different day.

but what plants are the flowers from GermanStar? the deep color is fabulous. xuling

Pic 1 is Spanish Lavender, of course. Pic 2 is Echinocereus rayonesensis, and Pics 3, 4 are E. fendleri. Some other Echinocereus and Thelocactus are getting ready... I have a couple Mamms still blooming, but they're finally starting to wind down.

I couldn't resist and stopped at two nurseries today. The first had many cactus I wanted that were either in bloom and with buds or just with buds so I bought a handful. I am going to post the photos of my new ones when I find the time, hopefully soon. xuling

Echinocereus are singing!

I hear them quite clearly . Beautiful :) Xuling