[unclefishstick]

a new season already upon us here,and the other thread had gotten pretty long so here we go!

in spite of having run out of space last year i of course started snapping up new cactus as soon as they started showing up....


just picked up this trichocereus grandifloris var. "epic" otherwise known as a torch cactus....huge showy flowers,overwhelming perfumed scent,you can smell these a 100 feet away,you can see the fuzzy spiny flower buds forming on this one...






echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubispina....have another of these in the yard already,this one will be joining it.




a chihuahua nipple cactus,a locally salvaged specimen the nursery people gave me..




lets see,this is an old man cactus of some sort,cant remember if its a mexican or andes type....have another smaller one and a bunch of other of these old man type wooly cactus...

[unclefishstick]

with several mild winters in a row here i have been expanding the in ground collection of cactus.many of these arent native to this area and quite a few im pushing the limits of cold tolerance but i do seem to have a favorable microclimate since the yard is south facing with no serious obstructions so i will be risking a bunch of new stuff this year...


these are all "hedgehog" cactus of various sorts,most with big showy blossoms some in startlingly vivid colors...

[unclefishstick]

and a little santa rita prickly pear,it will turn back to green over the summer as it warms up...






not all cactus of course,one of the early bloomers an evening primrose.








chocolate daisies,and yes,they smell like chocolate...








candallia or candle plant...

[unregistered190]

See everything is waking up! A few more weeks here.

[unclefishstick]

everything starting to bud and leaf back out here too,had plenty of stuff reduced to skeletons that have sprung back to life,also getting a bunch of volunteers popping up here and there,the flower i bed is full of little 4 o'clocks and theres a few things springing up i dont remember what was there before...

[unregistered190]

Another quick cold spell here.....but think this will be it. 70's Saturday I believe. Then I will get to see what survived this unusual winter this year. Nice pictures

[unclefishstick]

i think i only had 2-3 things die on me,still early,the roots are still in place and thats all it takes for many of these plants to regenerate,im about to plant some carrots and herbs in the 100 gallon smart pot full of roots 707 soil and get some 45 gallon smart pots out and some happy frog tomato food and some mulch on them and let them sit for a bit till it warms up more,should have a much easier time with the tomatoes in smart pots and all staked up from the start,they were a mess last year...

[unclefishstick]

after an all day effort i got all the tropical houseplants moved out of the living room where they have been under lights for the winter,had 800 and some watts burning to keep them going....going to have to do some serious repotting soon,some of these plants are just beast...took them outside and sprayed them down with the hose to clean them up and got them all set up in the greenhouse with the succulent collection...






and all the cactus set up on the back porch,still need to cram like 30 small ones in someplace...

[unclefishstick]

missed the first blossom on this little cluster of thelocactus macdowellii

[unclefishstick]

and it looks like most all of the "hedgehog" type cactus (echinocereus ) will be blooming soon,i have a several nice little clusters of the white sands claret cup as well as the 2 main local species and a number of zone tolerant species from other states.