well, they've definitely ID'd it as Mammillaria perbella ... which was one of my tentative ID's, but compared to the pics on the sites it just didn't look the same. 
and this Mammillaria, which I never did decide on a name for, decided to put out some blooms.
and the banana is almost ready to take into the flea market. Probably will go in this weekend.
These next two were planted outside on March 30, 2008 - here's the link to the original post when that happened, so that you can see they've definitely grown in almost a year... http://lpfleamarket.blogspot.com/2008/03/winter-hardy-cactus.html
So, it looks like I'll have some pics for you... I've never been able to predict blooms on Mamms though. Sometime it'll look like another week before they open, and they'll explode the next day. Other times I practically wait for a full bud to open and it'll take a week. Kind of annoying... but I'll keep my eyes open for pics. 
It doesn't have the most attractive blooms, and I origionally bought the plant last year, when it was a pretty little globe and I didn't know much about the species. It has now started to divide dichtonomously, and, from the pics I've seen on the web will spend a few years looking kind of sloppy, until he's formed a big mass and looks kind of cool again. 
I wasn't sure the Red Headed Irishman cactus was going to make it. It developed a large brown spot after I got it in the pot, I think due to bruising from the racoon debacle, and I was pretty sure that rot was going to start in... I was gearing up to lop off the top to try to root it, or perhaps even doing areola grafting, which I'd never tried but looked easy enough, to save the plant, but it started new growth, and then, beside the bruised area, started putting up some branches... so I'll leave it for now and hope that it'll start clumping. 
I know that many people try to grow only perfect specimens of their cactus, but sometimes I really like the scarring on the plants. It makes them look a little 'tougher' I guess...
Now, I know it's a Mammilaria, and that it divides dichotomously, meaning that it splits at the growing point rather than growing branches or pups. The thing is that it bloomed last week, you can see what's left of the blooms if you look closely. They were small, about a quarter inch across, and dark "Hot" pink, and I cannot, for the life of me, find a plant that divides this way with a bloom that color. Any ideas anybody? Or any resources on the web that might be able to help me out? I've exhausted most of my resources...
The Opuntia gossliniana is doing good... these bright purple pads fade to blue gray after they grow up. When I bought this, I thought I was getting a Santa Rita... a plant that is purple, the new pads being green... I wasn't too happy with this, but it is growing on me. Unfortunately, it's a rather slow grower, only putting out new growth in the spring, unlike most Opuntias which will put up a new pad whenever the urge hits them...
The rocks I found in an empty lot, where some contractor had dumped them... they're really nice rocks. Mica inclusions, so they glitter when the sun hits them...
Echinocactus texensis... AKA Texas Horse Crippler or Texas lace cactus... native more or less to this area... this is a very small plant that will eventually get about 8 inches across and 3 inches tall... more or less a spiny pancake. Each cluster of spines has a center spine that is hard as a nail and is quite capable of crippling a horse, and there are stories about them flattening tires and going through the sole of a boot. They present a certain amount of danger to cattle, and for this reason ranchers habitually kill them on sight. Consequently, they're more or less endangered in the wild. If you start at Ft. Worth, draw a line straight south, and another line straight west, that southwestern wedge is the native territory of the plant. This is a seed grown plant from the wonderful people at High Country Gardens, and is several years from being big enough to bloom...
Echinocereus reichenbachii v. baileyii Baileys Lace Cactus... got this little guy off ebay, since I planted him outside, he's started to develop buds... I'll be sure to post pics of the blooms, as they're bright pink and bigger around than the plant. Native to Oklahoma, there are reports of the plant being hardy up to zone 5. Easy to handle, the spines are actually soft, and you don't notice it too much in the pic, but the center new spines have a definite pinkish look.
Echinocereus triglochidiatus Claret Cup Cactus, White Sands Strain. This Claret Cup is evidently going to become much bigger than the normal plants, The guys at High Country Gardens say that it can reach 2 or 3 feet tall, and have small offsets to about 2 feet wide. Right now, it's about 2 inches tall, and I don't really expect to see any of the bright red blooms for at least a year, possibly longer. Hardy to zone 5... so it should do fine here.
Escobaria vivipara Behive Cactus... I've had this plant for about 5 years, and it always reliably blooms at least three times every summer, even better when I leave it outside all winter. It really appears to like a winter chill... This one is larger than most I've seen, most probably just older than most... the blooms are fuzzy and pink... I bought this plant origionally at an estate sale. I was there to buy stuff for my flea market stall, and as I was checking out, I looked out the patio and saw this neglegted little plant. I asked how much they wanted, and they said 50 cents. got it home, it was in a six inch nursery pot, and it appeared that all but 1 inch of the soil had washed out, repotted it, it bloomed almost immediately, and it's more than trippled it's size... I planted it so one of the heads is deeper than the other, as I wanted to see if that would encourage it to off set or pup... and maybe I'll get a nice clump. I'll of course post a pic when it blooms.
