One of my favorite pics this past year from my garden.  There's a dragon fruit in the background on this vine like cereus.  It was a hot and balmy summer night.

Most of the time, this cactus thrives in the garden.  The images you see on these posts were taken from my garden over the course of the year.  They come in all shapes and sizes, and all produce some incredibly beautiful flowers that open at night! Tomorrow I'm going to write a post on "Moonlight Gardens for the Desert" which includes these magnificent cacti.  However, I'm writing this post primarily because of a theory I have on this plant which suffered extreme frost damage during our severe freeze.  This plant took the biggest hit and many of these plants look terrible(or just plain dead) around Tucson.  I'll share my theories on what you should do with this plant and what it has done in the past when severe freezes hit Tucson.

It opens early in the morning and attracts many local bats and insects.

I saw neighbors ripping them out of the ground.  If you love this plant, DON'T!  Most of the time, this cactus is perfection in the desert and a popular choice for people's landscape.  Here are some tips that I've personally used with Cereus Cactus after a crippling frost.  1.  If the tops of the cactus are limp, flopped over, orange, frost burned, etc, cut that part off from the healthy segment.  ALWAYS cut at the segment.  You can also transplant segments into the ground in our warm spring for a new plant. Let it sit out for a week before putting into the ground.  Newer limbs will form like they did on the picture below. This will also create a larger plant down the road so prune off the dead parts at the segment when temps warm up.  2.  If the whole cactus is shot, meaning that it ALL collapsed or folded over, wait until spring to see if any newer cactus pop up from the root system.  If it does happen, wait until the new clones have grown a bit before removing the dead parts.  While the plant may have been fried, the root system might be okay.  Don't make quick decisions....wait and see what happens first before taking action. 

This is an easy plant to grow in the landscape.  This is my banner pic from El Presidio Gardens on the Las Aventuras Blog.  During a rare snowstorm back in 2007, the cactus died back.  I cut off the dead limbs in spring and this cactus doubled in size.  Wear gloves and cross your fingers.  Hope is not lost.  I hope these tips prepare you before our March 15th date to prune and trim up plants around your property. Stay tuned for some tips on Moonlight Gardens and March Gardening.  Spring brings life again and also a lot more work.....stay tuned for many more postings from the El Presidio Gardens.

Labels: cactus, caring for cereus cactus in Tucson, cereus cactus, Cereus Cactus Care, growing cactus in Tucson, trichocereus huasha rubra

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The battle has begun.  A war wages against the meth zombies.  I have called border patrol and they have refused to help.  I have called the police and they just shrug.  Most people turn a blind eye. But today I offer a sharp PRICK!  and fight the battle against meth!  My army of cacti have been employed in a fashionable manner.  Officially it's called the cactus garden which will serve as an attractive entrance to El Presidio.  It also serves as the next barrier of thorny anger that keeps evil from hopping our walls and stealing our valuables from the property.  Several months ago, I wrote about the cacti soldiers that protect our property.  Today I write about the army that came together to protect our northern borders.  They are an attractive group of plants that will hopefully grow as a team. Stay tuned for the completed project!

Labels: cacti, cactus, cactus fence, drugs, meth zombies, security cacti, Tucson, whiskey barrels

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This plant originates from Brazil.

A few of the twenty-some species in the genus Harrisia are found in cultivation and often grown as landscape plants in warmer climates where they can clamor and sprawl freely. Stems of this species are typically thin and few-ribbed; areoles with several needle-like spines are spaced enough to make the stems easily visible. All species have large nocturnal, white flowers which are fragrant. Floral tubes have bristles or wool and the fruits are round yellow or red fleshy spheres. The fruits are a useful identification key.

Sprawling in the Tucson Botanical Gardens

Wild populations of this genus can be found from Florida to California in the United States, through the Caribbean islands and down into South America along the east half of the continent as far south as Argentina. As mentioned above, most species are not well-known in cultivation, presumably because of their unwieldy growth habit. One species H. jusbertii is found in collections and is believed to be an inter-generic hybrid of H. pomanensis and Echinopsis eyriesii. In Florida, this genus is seldom seen in the wild as they inhabit islands and remote places where vegetation is extremely dense and inaccessible.  Some will actually crawl and act like vines.  I have several pictures from two previous posts showing their blooms on the El Presidio Grounds.

I don't know why I like this plant so much, but it's got a cool feel to it and one of the few cactis to have a vine-like quality.

Labels: cactus, Harrisia Adscendens Tucson

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I'm enjoying my coffee today before we go and do some patching up on the roof.  The big rains come this weekend.  While I sit here, my cats attack me because I am not paying enough attention to them. Why is it that while I'm on the computer, they have to sit on top of my keyboard, bite me, chew on the wires below the desk, get into fights near me, or jump on my shoulders?  I mean..I don't mind...but when you have 5 cats, one can be a little overwhelmed by their kitty madness:)

I love flowers and so do my cats:)

Here are some of the things I am working on for my upcoming blog entries....the neighborhood, several local places in Tucson to visit that will rock your world (and give you tips for your garden!), a trip to Europe and her gardens(focus: Spain, France, Italy), and local areas like Wilcox and Florence.  There is a lot in the works and I'm slowly piecing together my pics from old disks and jump drives.  Today, I thought I would return to my work here in the landscape and show some of the things that I am putting into place plus giving updates on the peach trees and the stone wells around the trees.

Okay, Tucson guy....where's your cactus garden?  If you were a true Sonoran desert man, you would have cactus in your landscape. So where's your cactus garden?  While putting together my landscape design, I didn't want to have fruit trees or other plants around these prickly guys. One of the mandates from the homeowners was to have an edible yet attractive landscape where people could garden and sit back to relax.  There are children that run around the property and it would be a terrible thing for them to meet their fate while picking an apple screaming all full of joy only to run into a million needles of pain worse than death.  If you live in the desert, you know what I speak of:).

Security against the "meth zombies"

Currently I am adding more...just haven't gotten to potting them all:) 

I love cactus...I really really do.  That's why I moved here....so....what do you do in a neighborhood full of meth heads?  Remember I mentioned in a previous blog about the bi-polar nature of my neighborhood....between good and evil??? Well here is where my cactus buddies come into play.  It is SOOOO important for a person to not do anything their first year at a new place with their garden.  Why???  You need to see where the rain flows during both summer and winter AND where the sun hits AND where your shade is AND if you have any "shady" people that enter into your yard every now and then:(.  I hate drugs and all things related to them, but this place was a dream come true for me.  I couldn't afford an hacienda style home, but we could afford a Melrose Place style condo where I could work my magic.  However with that came the sketchy neighborhood side of the "meth zombies" who steal everything and bring bad people to our "hood". 

 The Barrel Cactus is fun!!

We would have people cross our courtyard and climb our fences to get into our place.  They've stolen a lot off the property and have created some security issues.  So when in doubt, you need to have 24 hour protection and I needed my soldiers....the cactus family. A tip to remember...every plant serves a purpose.  I love all things cactus so to include them in the landscape, they were placed all around the property where I discovered people climbing walls and guess what???  They've kept the people out. No one likes getting stuck:)  They act as a barrier to keep unwanted visitors from entering your sacred grounds, PLUS they are the most beautiful plants in the world that we are fortunate enough to grow.....so my cactus garden acts as the bodyguards on the property:) Did I mention they don't need a lot of water?:)

The Red Baron Peach Tree

In the garden this week.  The Red Baron Peach trees have produced several delicious fruits.  To my excitement, several residents discovered them and ate them and loved them.  A garden to excite the senses!! Smell, color, touch, and TASTE!!  Everything is developing nicely around here.....again, none of this is over night, but a plant here or there adds up and the next thing you know, you live in a forest:) All fruit trees were planted this past February and March and are now in the production phase or soon to be production phase.  The plums are still developing but they were started bareroot and had some beginning issues. They are doing well now just don't think there will be any fruit for a year or so.....

The stone well waiting to be filled around the Eucalyptis Tree

The stone wells. I have been extending the garden further out as vegetation gets older.  3 trees planted 2 and half years ago are tall enough now for me to put in wells around their bases.  The important part of this process is to not get the trunk wet!!  You will kill the tree or it will get a disease that will kill it so you will see barriers around the base.  I will fill in the area with soil and put in groundcover which will "green up" the grounds more.  I'm not into any grass on the property so the groundcover, which I'm thinking will be verbena, will go into that space.

The Ash Tree

Finally, if you're looking for a great garden show to watch before you get out into the garden, check out Central Texas Gardener out of Austin on Youtube.....you'll love the show as they have a lot of great tips.  Until the next blog.....happy gardening!!:)

Labels: cactus, Red Baron peach tree, Stone borders

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