Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Desperation-Sparse Pickings

There is a silver lining just around the corner. That will be when fall starts and the temperature drops. The silver lining for me is found with the true pleasures of working the garden soil and planting new plants. Fall can be viewed only as a blessing in our desert!

Remember the beautiful gazania? Well, this too bit the dust! I have had this one a couple years. Since they are considered annuals, maybe it was time.


Ok, I am desperate to find something to blog about! The Orange Jubilee plant that turned yellow has dropped most of its flowers. Not sure if this is a common occurrence for this time of the year or if it is just stress from the heat. This is my first try on this one.


Tephrocactus articulatus var. papyracanthus has whitish spines 1 to 4 inches long, similar to raffia fibers. It hasn't bloomed yet so I'm not sure about the flowers.

Tephrocactus articulatus var. syringacanthus has never bloomed. It has spines that are longer and darker than the papyracanthus variety. I like this one the best. There are about seven varieties of Tephrocactus articulatus. I would like to have one of each. When I got this, I was told this one was somewhat rare.


Golden barrel is at its brightest color, and I'm not sure why. The full sun beats down on it all day! They can sunburn with that much exposure. You can see just a tiny bit of sunburn on the edges of the ribs. I have 4 of them that do well in my garden!


3 comments:

Aiyana said...

I like the Tephrocactus articulatus var. syringacanthus the best too. If a section drops off, send it to me!

You could participate in the meme I was invited to do this week.(I had already paricipated months ago) That would give you something to write about.

Check out the comments section of my Tuesday post and go to one of the blogs of the people who invited me. The rules are there. I'd like to read some random stuff about you.

Aiyana

Claude said...

The golden barrel is great... I've got one here, that has to come in every winter, and it never looks entirely happy... Sometimes I wish I lived just 50 miles south of here so I could really get some cacti going...

Julie said...

Hey Pudgeduck!!! How's things??? This Tephrocactus is so ugly, it is cute! My goodness! I can see why they appeal to you...I like them as well! I hope you can get all of the varieties! Your golden cactus really is golden!!! :)