More new plants!

Got to slow down! Most of this old stock has not been cared fo for years so there is a lot of evidence of very hard growing conditions on many of the specimens. For the most part the plants seem healthy if scarred, dissicated and severely root bound in many cases. It is somewhat humbling to see the resilience of cacti and succulents. I have been trying to pick the best and am rapidly running out of space!

The first one came with a bloom that has lasted three days so far. Thelocactus hexaedrophonus.

Leuchtenbergia principis. A bit raggedy but has a nice trunk started. One I've always wanted.

Astrophytum ornatum mirbelli. Almost as difficult to handle as a cholla!

Oreocereus celsianus. I know this is a pretty common species but was too attractive to pass up.

Gymnocalicium stellatum??? I'm unsure of the species but have a bud coming which should help. Plant is kind of beat up.

Enough for now. Thanks for looking!

Bill

PS. If I'm off base with any of my IDs please set me straight. I think my taxonomic ego has gone the way of my appendix!

This message was edited Aug 14, 2015 8:24 PM

The Gymno has a flower bud. That will help with a positive ID.

I think its awesome you have the opportunity to get a collection like this. My envy is turning my complexion green. 8') Get as many as you can - running out of space is no excuse.

Your ID is good on #2, 3 and 4. I'm not familiar with #1. I would check how the buds looked before the flower opened.

Daisy

Nice looking plants. If you want lots of hair on the Oreocereus, give it lots of sun. They do fine here in day-long sun but our climate is quite mild.

It is nice to have your support on the ids, Daisy. It seems to take a really critical eye to assemble enough data to make a positive decision of identity. You have no idea how much I want all of the plants but the greenhouse is small and when fall comes it gets far smaller as I move everything in from the patio. So far there are another 22 new plants I haven't posted. And no doubt more coming! Caudiciforms, haworthias, crassulas, aloes, gasterias, sansevieras, echeverias, etc., etc.

Btw, a green daisy would probably be very collectable!

Baja, thanks for the tip. I really admire your collection, thoughtful posts and insight. The mildness you mention must be due to the pacific coastal influence. Having spent a bit of time on the east coast of Baja I recall some rather harsh conditions (and some wonderfull cactus patches!), not to mention great diving and fishing.

Bill

It is nice to have your support on the ids, Daisy. It seems to take a really critical eye to assemble enough data to make a positive decision of identity. You have no idea how much I want all of the plants but the greenhouse is small and when fall comes it gets far smaller as I move everything in from the patio. So far there are another 22 new plants I haven't posted. And no doubt more coming! Caudiciforms, haworthias, crassulas, aloes, gasterias, sansevieras, echeverias, etc., etc.

Btw, a green daisy would probably be very collectable!

Baja, thanks for the tip. I really admire your collection, thoughtful posts and insight. The mildness you mention must be due to the pacific coastal influence. Having spent a bit of time on the east coast of Baja I recall some rather harsh conditions (and some wonderfull cactus patches!), not to mention great diving and fishing.

Bill

Here is my Oreocereus celsianus. I've had it for about 55 years. Its 3 feet tall now. Not a real fast grower!

Lovely speciman, Daisy!

Bill

That is awesome, Daisy. Here's my plant (southern exposure, no shade) maybe 5 or 6 years after I put it in the ground. It was roughly the size of the branch at that time and flowered for the first time 2 years ago.

Yes Bill, the mild Pacific influence rules here. The other side of the peninsula is another climate entirely (and home to some truly vicious plants).

That plant is awsome also, Baja. Something to look forward to.

Bill

Mine has never bloomed - even when it spent its time outside in California. But some of my plants that never bloomed outside in CA are now blooming inside in the greenhouse.

Maybe next year.

Daisy

You never know. I'm guessing the difference may have to do with some advantage from being in the ground. For what it's worth, I have not been particularly kind to the plant, other than water every couple of weeks. It's growing in soil that's mostly rocks and has never been properly amended or or even mulched.

Aside from the whole coming-of-age thing, which I appreciate, the flower is not really that spectacular. They do always face south. Maybe that's a hint, I don't know. Photo taken in October.

It was in the ground until just a couple years ago. It fell over during a storm and I stuck it in a pot. Then we moved so I was happy it was in a pot.

That flower looks as exciting as the Silver Torch (Cleistocactus strausii) which is about to hit the ceiling (of the greenhouse) and blooms every year.

I will wait (impatiently) for October. Maybe it will surprise me. So many have that used to live in the ground in CA until they fell over in the big storm. The top of Cephalocereus senilis was broken off. I managed to get the top to root so also have a part of that plant (55 years old and over six feet tall). My "cutting" is about the same size as the Oreocereus now and has a branch but no flowers.

Daisy

Great photo, Baja. The flower is different but very attractive. I do wish I could grow more of mine in the ground.

Daisy, Are there any cacti you don't have? How neagt.

Bill

What's a neagt. I don't have one of those. 8')

Neat--lol! This tablet is way too sensitive...

Bill

Aw...!

Well I don't have quite a few that I would love to have. One end of my greenhouse is jam packed with cactus (the other end is jam packed with orchids). And another cactus garden outside.

The inside plants are mostly old ones I have had since I was a kid. I have added a few over the years though. They lived outside in the ground for 30 years until a couple years ago when a big wind took all the tall ones out. I potted them instead of re-planting as the cactus garden was no longer getting the sun it needed (It had to do with a 50 year old Monkey Puzzle Tree and a Jerusalem Thorn Tree). Then when my husband announced we were retiring out of the state, I dug up a lot more that I couldn't bear to leave behind.

The outside cactus garden here in Reno is full of cold hardy cactus. It started when my uncle Rex told me to take home his cactus. He was selling his house and it had been planted in his backyard 30 years before by my grandmother. She had carried it around in a pot for years. Its a Beaver Tail with incredibly pink flowers and I believe she dug it up near Searchlight NV. I only brought about 1/4 of it home with me.

There's the whole story.

Daisy

Thanks for sharing that. What a beautiful Beaver Tail. I'm looking at that and thinking it might be another one that would survive here.

I started early also with a Stapelia gigantea and a Mammillaria elongata at about 7 years old. Funny to remember plant names but not contemporaneous classmate's names!

I too love the orchids--mostly to death. The record for me is a bout 8 years for this Phal, blooming now. It defies my worst efforts.

Bill

Nice Phal. I love the spotty ones. But is the flower with stripes attached to the plant with spots? If so, that is just weird.

Daisy

Yes it is one plant. My reaction was the same as yours!

Bill

I think you are seeing back into its genetic past.

Thank you DPL and Rockminer for all the wonderful pictures. I too love cacti and orchids. I have mostly mounted species orchids that are very small. I have very limited space and a large amount of plants. It's been very humid and rainy here and I'm concerned about my cacti exposed to all the rain we've been having. I wish a green house was possible, but no room. Soon they will all come back in my house on shelves in all my windows for the winter. I'd love to live where they could be in the ground. Not here where temps get below 20 degrees in winter. cll

CLL, It doesn't get quite that cold here, -5 or so, but there are cactus that can be frozen solid for months at a time. Here are a couple sites that sell cactus that can freeze:

http://www.coldhardycactus.com/

http://www.geoscapenursery.com/Cactus.html

http://www.intermountaincactus.com/Intermountain_Cactus/Home.html

I have purchased cactus from the first two and have looked at the third.

I think the biggest problem would be the amount of moisture your cactus would get. You would have to dig out a spot and mix in a lot of gravel for fast draining. Some of the people on this site who live in Arizona are putting plastic tents over their cactus during Monsoon season. The Monsoons have missed us this year in Reno (I think they hit Arizona and go directly to Wisconsin). Our rainfall since January 1 is only 6 inches. We are hoping for a wet fall.

What kind of orchids do you have? I am trying to rid myself of Phalaenopsis and attempting more challenging plants. I picked up a Ceologyne and Dendrochilum at a Orchid swap at our Orchid Society meeting the other night. My Psychopsis has a bloom stalk growing. First time so very exciting.

Daisy

#5 looks like my Gymnocalycium ragonesii