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Cacti & Succulents - Garden of the Sun (Fresno CA)


Josue Diaz

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The local cacti and succulent society has curated a small, but rather diverse collection of plants. I took a stroll at the Garden of the Sun today during my lunch break and thought I'd share some photos with you. 

First up, the queen of agaves Agave victoria-reginae. This is a compact species, often growing to just 18 inches across. 

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a trunking aloe, possibly thraskii? marlothii in the background, and what I think is aloe dichotoma on the right. the two large cacti on the left are giant saguaro.

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Edited by Josue Diaz
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A stapelia species in flower

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Euphorbia resinifera

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For rare caudiform aficionados : an Idria colunmaris!

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Edited by Josue Diaz
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A couple of spectacular barrel cacti. These are huge, some were up to 4 feet tall 

 

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There were lots of opuntia, cylindropuntia and related species. I didnt get many photos of them except for these:

Don't you want to hug this cholla cactus?

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How about this one? Cylindropuntia leptocaulis, aka Christmas Cholla

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Lastly, here's a beautiful, spawling agave vilmoriniana - aptly called octopus agave.

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Edited by Josue Diaz
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AWESOME!! I so wish I could grow barrel cactus and saguaro here!!

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Naples (inland), FL - technically 10a but more like 9b in the winter :hmm:

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3 hours ago, Missi said:

AWESOME!! I so wish I could grow barrel cactus and saguaro here!!

A nursery just outside of town had a really old saguaro with three massive arms. It must have been nearing 20 feet or more. Last year, we had really wet winter and all the rain caused the soil to give away and the entire thing toppled over, crushing a lot of their palm inventory! Last I heard, they were going to try to salvage the arms or pieces of it. Maybe I'll go check it out again soon. 

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Here is my very own contribution. Agave parryi. This was my very first plant that i got perhaps 15 years ago. This was when my love of plants began. Well - this is an offset of the original plant, which I still have also.

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Edited by Josue Diaz
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Great photos Josue!  I have one of these Agave parryi and Agave victoria-reginae  offsets also.  Yours looks perfect!  I've never seen such a large clump of Cylindropuntia leptocaulis but I see many smaller ones since they grow wild here.  I used to have several on my Bastrop, Texas property.  That stapelia is what they call "carrion flower" - I've seen them flower before but never smelled one.  I'm not a fan of the smell of dead critters!

Jon

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Jon Sunder

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12 minutes ago, Fusca said:

Great photos Josue!  I have one of these Agave parryi and Agave victoria-reginae  offsets also.  Yours looks perfect!  I've never seen such a large clump of Cylindropuntia leptocaulis but I see many smaller ones since they grow wild here.  I used to have several on my Bastrop, Texas property.  That stapelia is what they call "carrion flower" - I've seen them flower before but never smelled one.  I'm not a fan of the smell of dead critters!

Jon

Jon, you should post your photos also! I'm a big fan of agave and aloes. 

That Cylindropuntia has some wicked armor! Completely impenetrable. This one was 5 feet tall, perhaps 6 wide, and had been hacked back to keep it from blocking a pathway. And I've smelled the flowers on my own stapelia grandiflora (fuzzy, maroon flowers) - they definitely stink! lol I stuck my nose in this flower but couldn't detect any scent. Perhaps not all stapelia smell alike? 

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22 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

Jon, you should post your photos also! I'm a big fan of agave and aloes. 

That Cylindropuntia has some wicked armor! Completely impenetrable. This one was 5 feet tall, perhaps 6 wide, and had been hacked back to keep it from blocking a pathway. And I've smelled the flowers on my own stapelia grandiflora (fuzzy, maroon flowers) - they definitely stink! lol I stuck my nose in this flower but couldn't detect any scent. Perhaps not all stapelia smell alike? 

Most Stapeliads stink, some more than others. S. flavopurpurea ( Pictured below) is one of the few species.. if not the only Stapelia whose flowers smell good.. Never been able to detect a scent on my Orbea variegata  specimens (  species in your picture ) either.. Flies love them regardless. Seed is easy to germinate if you get any pods.

Stapelia flavopurpurea
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2 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Most Stapeliads stink, some more than others. S. flavopurpurea ( Pictured below) is one of the few species.. if not the only Stapelia whose flowers smell good.. Never been able to detect a scent on my Orbea variegata  specimens (  species in your picture ) either.. Flies love them regardless. Seed is easy to germinate if you get any pods.

Stapelia flavopurpurea
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That is such a cool stapelia! 

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11 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

That is such a cool stapelia! 

Real easy grower also.. Not a fan of much ( if any ) water during the winter though. Much easier than Persian Carpet ( Edithcolea grandis ) which will rot easily if not kept bone dry and warm, esp. in winter. 

Want to find some of the rarer, even weirder- flowered sp. when i re-start that collection. 

Back to the Barrel Cacti for a sec,  here's an approx. 5.5' tall, 3-header from up near South Mountain, along the Bursera Trail ( east side of the Park ). Until recently, there was also a 6 -footer in a yard down the street. Had blown over last time i passed by. Not sure what they did w /it. Wasn't there when i drove by today. Kind of surprising when you see just how big these can get.

Bursera Trail, east side of South Mountain Park. 03 / 2016.

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On 12/21/2018, 12:40:02, Josue Diaz said:

A nursery just outside of town had a really old saguaro with three massive arms. It must have been nearing 20 feet or more. Last year, we had really wet winter and all the rain caused the soil to give away and the entire thing toppled over, crushing a lot of their palm inventory! Last I heard, they were going to try to salvage the arms or pieces of it. Maybe I'll go check it out again soon. 

I, er, ordered a baby saguaro from an AZ grower on eBay :rolleyes: Going to grow it for as long as I can in a clay pot. Going to have the figure out how to keep it out of the rain, yet still in full sun. Maybe its own little greenhouse. 

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Naples (inland), FL - technically 10a but more like 9b in the winter :hmm:

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/21/2018, 12:41:04, Josue Diaz said:

Jon, you should post your photos also! I'm a big fan of agave and aloes.

Josue,

Unfortunately not much to look at just yet as my agave offsets are still quite small - so as a result I managed to get all 3 in one photo!  LOL  If I remember correctly, Agave parryi in the red container, Agave havardiana in the black container and Agave victoria-reginae in the ground.  I didn't get any roots with the offsets initially but they all have rooted in and hopefully will start growing this year!  Over the holidays I got a piece of chainfruit cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida var. mamillata) that I'm trying to root as well.  :)

Jon

Cali 027.JPG

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Jon Sunder

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On 1/2/2019, 8:30:49, Fusca said:

Josue,

Unfortunately not much to look at just yet as my agave offsets are still quite small - so as a result I managed to get all 3 in one photo!  LOL  If I remember correctly, Agave parryi in the red container, Agave havardiana in the black container and Agave victoria-reginae in the ground.  I didn't get any roots with the offsets initially but they all have rooted in and hopefully will start growing this year!  Over the holidays I got a piece of chainfruit cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida var. mamillata) that I'm trying to root as well.  :)

Jon

Cali 027.JPG

That harvardiana will be an awesome plant. All three of those will be striking in full sun. 

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On 12/21/2018, 12:00:52, Josue Diaz said:

a trunking aloe, possibly thraskii? marlothii in the background, and what I think is aloe dichotoma on the right. the two large cacti on the left are giant saguaro.

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Hi Josue

The first aloe is vanbalenii.

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Aloe thraskii is more of a greyish green as opposed to vanbalenii’s apple green. The ones you photographed are unusually tall specimens which I think caused the confusion. It is a beautiful succulent garden. Thanks for sharing. 

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3 hours ago, Marius said:

Hi Josue

The first aloe is vanbalenii.

These were 4 to 5 feet tall though. Does vanbalenii grow that tall?

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