Cactus flowers...

finally... something plant related!

and a cactus plant at that... although, it is one of my old faves... and by checking my stats... I can also see that it's one of the most popular posts I' ve ever made too....

Hildy... aka Cereus hidmannianus... will be opening her blooms tonight... 

and I still haven't got a camera.  will have to see what we can do with a porch light, a flashlight and a cell phone... but we're gonna give it the ole college try...

Well, Hildy has up and done her thing again... looks like she'll be doing it tomorrow and the next day too...

This pic was taken with a cheap kodak. At 6 am. I am a bit past staying up until 1 am to take pics of cactus blooms in their full glory. I've done it before. Several times. The thrill is gone.

Seriously, if you look at past posts... you will see that I've stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, sometimes aiming my trucks headlights to light up a shot... on one memorable occasion even balancing a flashlight, umbrella and camera in the rain, all so I can produce a pic for my blog friends. No more... Love ya to death... But...

Besides, I get up at 5:30 am to get ready for work anyway. Which is really surprising to me. When I worked in bars, that's about the time I came home and crawled into my coffin.

Regardless, there's Hildy up there. Four blooms tonight, more over the next couple of days. Probably more blooms over the next couple of months too.

hildy's gearing up!

Well, Hildy, my Cereus hildmannianus, (aka Peruvian Apple, or one of the dozen or so plants called Night Blooming Cereus or Queen of the Night) is gearing up for blooming... counted this morning and there's 18 buds forming. Now, usually some of the buds will abort, usually under half... but I've tried to see if I can get more of them to stick around this year, by giving her a shot of plant food a couple of days ago when I first noticed the buds forming.

Currently, Hildy is about 4 feet tall, and consists of a trunk that was broken off and now has 4 branches, 2 from near the base and two from further up the stem. The branch in the pic is the tallest, and it would appear that the growing tip has become damaged in some way, as it doesn't appear to be growing... but the other three stems have already put on about 3 inches each this year. Eight to 10 inches a year seems about par for the course...

Next is a newer plant that I managed to aquire earlier this year. A San Pedro cactus, (Trichocereus pachanoi) that I found at Wal-Mart of all places around May.

I wonder if Wal-Mart is aware that they're selling plants that are often used by idiots to produce mescaline? Seriously, I about got into a fist fight with some stoner when I purchased this thing... It was the only one there, and we were both intent on aquiring it. Fortunately, aging hippies are often slow moving. Their reflexes are shot...

Of course, I won't be producing mescaline from this plant. I just like the looks of him...

Slightly less than 18 inches tall... he (I think I'll call him Packy) Packy is large enough to bloom, but I don't know if he will honor us with any blooms this year. You'd think he would, I saved him from some hippies blender. I mean... where's the gratitude, right? He looks a lot like Hildy, with less spines, and fuller bodied.

I wanting some of these taller cactus for the new planting bed I'm putting in... of course, I won't be able to leave them outside... but I'm thinking of plunging old nursery pots into the ground, so that I can set my big guys in the ground for the summer... just put them in the plunged pot and fill around their actual pots with gravel. Come autumn, when the frost are threatening, I can pull them out fairly easily.

And now... I must apologise... My internet service has been blinking on and off like a defective strobe light with a short circuit. I haven't been around to post on my blog, or to comment on my friends blogs.

but I am keeping up with you!

Hildy's done it again...

The Cereus hildmannianus has bloomed again tonight...

Just thought I'd show it off a little...

cactus in the rain...

First, just so I won't be accused of Prickly Pear abuse, I would like to point out that the neglected Optunia humifusa from the previous post has been potted up in his own 5 inch clay pot, and will soon, no doubt, be happily growing along... the dead looking pad in the middle is typical of the species. Old pads die off as the new ones grow and root... the miniaturized pad that's lying on the soil surface already has new roots going into the ground at least an inch. The new pad that's growing up from the old roots will probably end up regular sized for the plant, what with new soil and the right amount of light, so it'll grow out at least 4 inches... we'll see.

It's been raining for 5 days straight! All my neighbors keep gushing about how we need it... I keep reminding them that I grow cactus, and I don't need it! The Pavonia keeps opening up it's blooms though, even if they do end up looking a little droopy from the water...

And Charcoal Briquette Kitty does not like this one little bit...

But the lower temps and extra water have prompted Hildy (Cereus hildmannianus) to put out some new buds. 15 that I've counted, although they're low on the plant and hard to find among the Prickly Pear pads that surround the pot. There may be more. And more buds may yet form higher on the plant... we'll see.

I will be picking up a new (used) truck tomorrow. Sorely needed, I assure you. My little Isuzu in about on it's last legs, but I'll probably keep it until I'm sure the new one isn't spending too much time in the shop.

I don't like spending money. I'm not particularly good at it, and it's kept me in a tempermental, worried fit over the last few days. Silly of me, but there we are. But I've bit the bullet... and now it's done.

night blooming cactus - again...

Haven't had a huge amount to blog about lately. Guess the doldrums are just pressing in... But Hildy, (cereus hildemannianus) finally came through... now, as to the actual species name of this cactus, there has been a bit of a discusion about that over on Mr. Subjunctives blog which is very informative. Actually, it's a great blog in general, I highly recomend it...

I've always called this Cereus hildemannianus, and I probably always will, so there we are... Click on my label at the bottom of this post, and you can see previous blooms and posts about him.

Queen of the Night blooming!

My Cereus hildmannianus (aka known as Queen of the Night, but so are a couple of dozen other cactus, so I tend to just call the thing Hildy) bloomed last night...

This is the bud at sunset...

Then next two are at about 11:30 PM -

and we had a little cloud cover this morning, so the bloom was still open at 7:30 this morning...

Those white flowers in the background of the last pic are Pavonia hastata... "rock rose" which are going a little haywire this year.


I didn't get many blooms from this plant last year... if you click on the label below this post, you'll see the whole story, but the wind blew the plant over and broke the top off... I'm still not getting enough blooms. It needs repotted. Badly. I should probably wait until next spring to do it, but last year I waited till this spring to do it and of course I didn't so I'll probably do it in the next few weeks, as soon as I find a pot big enough.

This is the resprouted stump from the falling cactus fiasco. The tip I rooted, and people kept telling me that they might be winter hardy here... so I left it in the ground to find out. But the first hard frost turned it black. No big loss... the plants are too big to have several to move in and out every winter, one is more than enough.

Cereus hildmannianus

And this is the first bloom for this plant this year.

When I went outside at 11 pm, there was no sign of the bloom actually opening, so I went to bed assuming that the bloom would take place tomorrow. Sometime after that...we got a little bit of rain, and the darned thing opened. This is the bloom begining to close actually, it was fully spread at about 8 inches wide at some point last night, trying to entice the night flying bats that polinate it. While we have bats here, I'm not sure we have the right ones, as I've never heard of this plant actually getting polinated in this area... of course, they're not extrememly common around here, it's quite possible that there's no cross pollination going on... I don't know if they self-pollinate... I've certainly attempted to intercede before, and it didn't work.

Anyway... that's the bloom.... if you click on the label below, you'll see some of the other blooms that have happened over the years... much more impressive ones actually...

And I'm back...

Actually, I didn't go anywhere. Just really had nothing much to say...

And that's not entirely honest. I have, for the past week, been battling the family curse of migraines... I don't get them as often as I used to, but they are much more serious when they're here, and as painful as they are, they're usually preceeded by a general moodiness and fits of depression... quite frankly the actual pain of the migraine is almost a relief... I know the cycle is almost over... The problem is that while this round about is going on, it's kind of hard to pull together the small bit of concentration it takes to type a scentece.

But on the fourth, I did get out and about enough to take a pic of this little black bee on a portaluca in the front yard... a nice shiney black except for the bright yellow pollen sacks on his back legs...
and the Cereus Hildemanus is putting out it's first bud of the year. Today it doubled in size, so it may open tonight after sundown. I'll try to get a pic if it does...

As for the rest of the fourth, I wasn't quite up to exploding fireworks... some fried chicken, a big slice of watermelon and a quiet day is all I wanted.

So, I'm still alive! (and I thank the kind posters who left comments asking if I was OK... thanks for checking up on me, but when it comes to these dang headaches, I know the drill )

Cereus hildmannianus bloom, part 2...

Well, it's 6:05 a.m. and I just took another pic of the 2nd nights bloom... The best pics I've taken of this plant blooming are about 1 am when I have the truck parked in front of the house, I turn on the headlights and take pics with that light instead of the flash. But I have to work today, so I wasn't getting up at 1 am, and the truck is parked in back and I didn't feel like moving it. So these will have to do...

Anyway, here we are...

Not been a great couple of days... It's been raining off and on and driving in storms has never been my idea of a good time. Nothing I can't deal with, just not much fun. Started yesterday with a flat tire, and thinking back, I don't think I've ever had a flat tire when it wasn't raining, but today should be a little easier to deal with.

Actually, I'm leaving the house with the determination that today WILL be a better day.

I don't want to be one of those people who go around looking for the worst, because I've found that if you expect the worst, you generally won't be dissapointed. So, today will be a better day. I know this, because I'm in charge of these things.

Now, if you have a bad day, it's somebody elses fault. Later...

Cereus hildmannianus bloom...

well, C. hildmannianus did bloom last night, this pic was taken about 6;15 am. The other bud shows every sign of opening tonight, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a better pic then. First bloom of the year, and tomorrows will probably be the last, I just hope I'll be able to have a better year next year.

Really quick post... on the way to work.

nothing much doing here...

well, I was looking forward to a nice long relaxing weekend... but that didn't work out. Friday night, a friend of the family was rushed to the hospital with apendicitis. The next day, after a run to the hospital, I ran up to the flea market, and then today I had to run to Home Depot to get some cord for the weed eater so that I could mow the lawn, (really, not one of my favorite things... I'm seriously thinking of lawn substitutes here... ) and now I will be going out to see my mom who is staying out with the friend of the family and I may just stay out there all night because there will be a bar-b-que tomorrow.

Work will no doubt be relaxing compared to this weekend...

Anyway, took a few pics in the yard after mowing... bought a hummingbird feeder at Home Depot... the cheapest one, since I'm pretty sure the birds don't care what the things look like... We have hummers here all summer, not a huge amount, but the flowers in my yard mean that I see a few more of them than most yards around here... But I never put up feeders until September. That's because around mid-September the migration to their winter grounds passes through. Some people have put out feeders for so long, that they have literally hundreds visiting every year... I end up with a few flitting around.

Also took a pic of the Cereus hildmannianus buds... should be flowering within a couple of weeks.

And the Pavonia hastata are about to bloom their fool heads off, they are really loving the late summer heat. It seems the hotter it gets, the more they bloom...

and of course the ruellias are going at it too...

Happenings in the yard...

Well, I have good news...



My Cereus hildmannianus, which has had a very traumatic summer, has decided to put out a couple of blooms! I had talked about this plant in some previous posts... (if you're interested, click on the label link to the right...) and I was surprised to see 2 very small buds forming this morning. But cross your fingers, this plant has been known to put up false buds. Usually, of about 10 small buds, only 7 will finish developing and bloom, some will abort. I'm told that this may be a survival technique... in the wild, the buds may be eaten by grazing animals, so if the real buds get eaten before they fully develop, these false or secondary buds will go ahead and develop... This is of course all speculation, but that's what they say...



Also in surprises, My stapeliad gigantea(?) which has also had a traumatic summer(see previous post) seems to be putting out 3 buds too... way too small for me to be sure, but it doesn't look like new stem growth, as there's plenty of that on there too. Cross your fingers! This plant is fairly new, and I haven't ever seen it bloom, so I'm looking forward to the big blooms, but I can't say that I'm going to be thrilled about something smelling like a dead animal in the yard...



And, just to have some sort of pic for everybody to look at... here's a pic of the Echeveria 'Blue Moon' blooming in the yard.

Cereus hildmannianus

Well, a few posts back I was talking about how this plant fell over and got beheaded, I thought I'd give a little update...



as you can see, the two small branches that were coming up from the bottom of the plant have grown from about 3 inches to 8 in a relatively short period of time... thriving off a root system that was established to support a 4 foot plant no doubt. The top of the stump has begun a branch right below the break, and the one branch that was already there has put on about 6 inches of growth also.

The two 'logs' that I laid down on their side in the flower bed show no signs of new arms coming up, nor do they show any signs of throwing roots into the soil like the guys on the web-site said they would, but I'm not giving up. They'll probably do everything suddenly in the space of a day... the actual growing tip, which was damaged in the fall, and I cut off, is about 5 inches, has established roots... so it should start growing anytime now... I placed it in a pot of portaluca... I have three rectangular pots of portaluca sitting on a brick wall out front. They bloom like crazy all summer, and whatever random cuttings happen tend to get stuck in there, so there's always some encheveria, semperverium, sedum and what-not rooting in the light shade of the annuals.

It's kind of time for me to start looking for a bigger pot, so I can get all these cereus cuttings planted together into one pot to save room when I have to bring it in come fall.

Also in the yard is a Golden Cat-tail... Cleistocactus winteri. This is a great plant that produces wonderful bright red blooms, but doesn't seem particularly inclined to this year... don't know why.



But, the lack of blooms is more than made up for in the new growth that's it's decided to put out this summer...

Cereus hildmannianus

This is my Cereus Hildmannianus... one of the about 2 dozen cactus species referred to as Queen of the Night, sometimes called Peruvian Apple. (I call it Hildy...)



It's not blooming right now, this is from last year... I'm probably not going to get any blooms from it this year...



I've had the plant for about 10 years, got it when it was less than a foot tall on a clearance table at one of the local nurseries. Since then, it grew to about 4 feet tall, and put out one branch (on the other side of the plant in this pic) and puts out a couple of dozen blooms a year, about 8 inches across and at night. It's not winter hardy here, being only capable of surviving occasional light frosts, so I bring it in every winter and let it go dormant. This carting back and forth is probably why I was resisting putting it in a larger pot... which I regret now, as it turned out to be so top heavy that the last wind-storm blew it over and broke it off.



Before this, it was doing fairly well... It had two more trunks coming up from the base of the plant, both about 3 inches tall now.



Fortunately, the break was just above the branch, so now it's a stump with a foot tall branch sticking out of the side, and a couple of other branches coming from the bottom... in about a year it may have put out more branches from the trunk, so it'll end up fine. As for the pieces broke off... I've cut the growing tip off and put it in a pot to root... and the rest of the trunk, about two feet, has been cut into two pieces and laid flat on the ground in one of the flower beds. I have it on good authority from an Internet search that it will throw roots into the ground, and then start sprouting growth all along the pieces... I'll get anywhere from six to a dozen new plants to break off and root individually... I'll probably end up putting them all into one really huge pot, with the mother trunk in the middle.



But all this trauma may have ruined my chances of seeing any of the 8-inch wide blooms glowing in the moonlight this year...



Tracing the origins of this plant has proved to be a challenge for botanist... It's probably native to South America. The problem is that the plant, which can attain heights of over 15 feet in the right climate, has been grown as an ornamental, as well as for it's edible fruit, for so long that there are no records of it's original native land.



We'll see how everything works out.