Cactus Collection: First Look

My official inventory of the cactus collection is far from complete, as it takes me a while to track down the right names for each one. What's that? A botanist who doesn't know the names of her plants? Ha ha, well, yes.

Many of my cacti started as tiny, unmarked specimens in those dish gardens you can buy. Other plants in my garden came from neighborhood collection expeditions, where I've been known to snip off an agave plantlet or two from a flower spike. Doesn't everyone carry shears on their evening walks? Some of my largest specimens are gifts from a friend who might have had the wrong plant names. That all adds up to a garden of mysterious wonders.

While I do the research, I thought I’d share a few of the photos.

Three of the prickly pear cacti, including my favorite purple one:

An assortment of columnar cacti:

More shapes and sizes of cacti:

Here are some of the agaves and yuccas on the property:

Large and small aloes:

I’ll have more pictures of the cacti later in the year when they have flowers – some of them are quite amazing.

I understand that cacti and their Old World equivalents are successfully grown in many places less conducive than this hot desert. I have a friend in the chilly climate of Northwest Germany, who has a few cacti living on a windowsill in her house. Where there's a will, there's a way!


Katrina