Well, I know I was going to tell you more about my trip to the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden, but I found these today... I've been to about every cemetary I can find, (My dad was a history buff, and we used to enjoy looking for historic burials) and I've waded through more iris beds, crinum lillies and yuccas than I care to remember, but this is the first time I've ever encountered these Escobaria missourensis deliberately planted on graves. Of course, it may have once been very common to plant pincusion cactus over graves. Modern lawnmowers and weedeaters may have destroyed many plantings.
Some of the plants are blooming a decidedly green color...
some are very heavily bearing last years fruit...
and some are blooming a decidedly flesh-tone...
This is my size 11 work boot beside this clump, just so you have some idea of the size of the things...
I'm not going to give the name or location of this graveyard... the reason is that I am more than aware of the retail cost of these clumps of cacti... some of the clumps are at least a hundred years old... and I don't want to tell any cactus rustlers where to find a motherlode, but I did just have to show them to you...
Some of the plants are blooming a decidedly green color...
some are very heavily bearing last years fruit...
This is my size 11 work boot beside this clump, just so you have some idea of the size of the things...
I'm not going to give the name or location of this graveyard... the reason is that I am more than aware of the retail cost of these clumps of cacti... some of the clumps are at least a hundred years old... and I don't want to tell any cactus rustlers where to find a motherlode, but I did just have to show them to you...
Very interesting! Never saw cactus planted on graves here.
ReplyDeleteOh wow...how cool! I have never seen any cactus on graves before, but kind of a protective force, I'd say!!! What great finds all in bloom and fruit! Sure wish I could see something like that in real life! Great post!!!
ReplyDeleteGraves? Were there a lot of graves in the cemetery, or were all the graves planted with cacti? This is very interesting. Wonder if there is a meaning in the choice. Cactus flowers are defined as 'enduring' in the meaning of flowers, so perhaps there is a connection.
ReplyDeleteAiyana
Aiyana -
ReplyDeleteIt's a good-sized small town cemetary, and still active... These are in the older parts of it, and seem to be centered around certain families. My guess is that it probably reflects a certain matriarchal tradition of women who've married into several families, and who plant these cacti on the graves because that's what their mothers and grandmothers did, but I have no proof of that. The modern parts of the graveyard show no sign of the tradition continuing, but it does have posted rules about horticultural material needing approval, no doubt to make lawn maintenance easier. It should be noted that these cacti are primarily on graves that have raised borders and are filled with gravel... This species is native to the area, but not overly common, it's possible that the origional plants came from a family farm, and the others are off-sets or cuttings from those.
Thanks, Claude. Interesting info. I've always been fascinated with old family graveyards, and thought maybe this graveyard was one of the private ones.
ReplyDeleteAiyana