just stuff...

Just some shots around the yard... this pic is a little overexposed, it doesn't really show the firecracker red of the bloom... but you get the idea... Cleistocactus winteri, aka golden rat tail or my preferred common name, golden cat tail... click the label if you want to see past pics of the whole plant...

And of course, the Prickly pears are in bloom... I was worried that I was going to lose a lot of blooms and therefore fruits... which are very important to me for making jelly, but it turned out not so much.

Now this is a foundling from the side of the road, and I'm gonna see if I can do something with it... an Areca palm... Chrysalindocarpus lutescens. They make decent parlor palms... and if I was a little bit further south, decent yard palms to 10' tall... but this guy has been neglected.

Step 1: cut off anything that is obviously dead and leave anything that is green...

I realize that the couple of leaves left are in pretty bad shape, but there's enough green on them to still be doing SOME photosynthesis... and since they're the only leaves left, I'm leaving them for now...

SAGO UPDATE

The second Sago did eventually put up new fronds... kinda... it seems to be putting up 1 - count them ONE, new leaves. One of it's four remaining leaves has died off. The other three... beat up as they are, are staying on there for photosynthesising purposes. I just don't feel like further weakening an already obviously weak plant... of course, this is way too much bother for most people, but I seem to find a perverse pleasure in reviving the near deceased...

The other plant however is doing just fine! Remarkably fine, actually, and he's about ready to find a permanent home in the yard.

Hoping everyone is having a great Memorial day, complete with Bar-B-Que and lots of family and friends.

Later!

Well, you caught me... I'm playing hookey from work. After a couple of 12 hour days, then having to do a bunch of stuff at home, I just decided that today was the day... Most of the chores were done by noon, so I get to rest up until I mow the lawn after the sun starts to go down... The cleistocactus is blooming again...

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.

The neighbor still hasn't mowed that grass... I'd really hate to have to have a word with him... but it's looking more and more like I might have to...

golden cat tail blooming...

My cleistocactus winteri, aka 'golden cat tail' or 'golden rat tail' (I prefer cat because 1. it's more accurately descriptive and 2. it just sounds better) has decided to bloom this spring... This is unusual.

Usually it blooms several times from late spring to summer, about 3 flushes... and last year it didn't bloom at all. Maybe these are some buds that started to develop last year and didn't until now...

You've probably seen this plant before, kind of... it's crestate or monstrose variety is quite common on those little grafted cactus you get at wal-mart. A South American native, it likes a little more water in the summer than most cacti. It will survive the winter outside here, but it has to be kept absolutely bone-dry, which is a little bit more than I can manage, so I bring it in...