Our Cactus Page
Summer 2006
We
do have to thanks Plants for All Seasons when they said the sage would do
nicely with the cacti.
Upon further research, another name for this cactus is the
Apple Cactus. And here are pictures why. Some reports say that the
fruit is edible but neither of us is that brave. The fruit grew off of
the remainder of a stem where a flower had bloomed and fallen off. In
retrospect, it makes sense but at the time, we had no idea what was going on.
More and
more surprises. (Late June
2003)
“Who would’ve
figured something so phallic would’ve grown something so phallic.”
Jennie walked out in the
backyard one morning in June and couldn’t believe her eyes. The cacti had
seemingly grown overnight and there were now about 30 buds on all three cacti.
Looking Back…
In March 2002, we finally decided we needed to do something with one of the back corners of the yard. We thought cacti would be an interesting option. We could pair it with a Silverado sage, similar to the one we added to the front yard.
We did a little shopping and finally find some cacti that we liked. We got three and they were between 5 and 6 feet tall when we got them.
The cacti have a new home – March 2002
Over those next few days, we found out what we had bought and were in for a big surprise. I did a little research and found out what we had bought were Andes Organ Pipe (Cereus peruvianus). The 5-6 foot cacti were likely to grow to 15-20 feet and have night blooming flowers. Both of these facts caught us off guard but we have been pleasantly surprised. In September 2002, one of them flowered.
Following are some pictures from over the past year or so showing what we have inadvertently brought to our backyard.
Renovations (March 2003) – We decided that we should replace the mulch around the cacti with pond stones.
I know! I should lift with my knees.
Three trips to Home Depot later, it's all done
The cacti one year later (February 2003) - The cacti have grown about five to six feet. The one that has grown the least has been concentrating on growing its babies.
Hey! The one in the middle is smiling
Even this one is almost taller than me
The cacti (Summer 2002)
(Shameless plug time…many thanks with some problems to Molly at the California Cactus Center.)
Last update: August 10, 2006
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