Cactus season, ..Two thousand twenty.

[palmsOrl]

The white one above reminds me of Mussaenda.

[aztropic]

Sometimes,the seed pods can be almost as pretty as the flowers! 

Pancake barrel

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[Silas_Sancona]

Second of the AZ Rainbow specimens, Echinocereus rigidissimus v. rubrispinus  tossing out some fireworks. Another flower opened on the first, offering a chance to do some pollinating between the different plants.. Also dusted open flowers of Echinocereus leucanthus  ( Picture Below ) w/ pollen from the second rainbow.. Two very different looking cacti which might be one of those "..Might be interesting if it works" kind of cross attempt. 




Always something interesting to observe, even when backlit from underneath.



Rare and hard to find Echinocereus leucanthus, from central / southern Sonora. Looks a lot like a number of skinny, snake -like stemmed Cacti in various Genera. Used to be part of the now dissolved Genus Wilcoxia.


Trichoceri should be popping by the end of the week..

[Silas_Sancona]

More fireworks as we approach the end of another week..

Echinocereus sheeri v. sheeri.  putting on a bit more of a show. At one point in the day yesterday, 2 flowers were open, then another popped late in the afternoon. First of the 3 flowers is the same from the previous post.. Last quite a long time compared to a lot of other echinoceri flowers.  **In a previous post, i somehow got this mixed up w/ the other form of the species i have, E. sheeri. var, gentryi.  To be more confusing, have seen where everything is flipped around, with gentryi listed as the species, and sheeri as a variant.. ( E gentryi v. gentryi,  and E. gentryi v. sheeri )  Regardless, the " gentryi " form is late to flower this year, if it decides to at all.. but has bright pink flowers/ much smaller spines on the stems, as seen in last year's cactus season thread.










Astrophytum myriostigma, Bishop's Cap. Missed it throwing 3 flowers at once a couple weeks back..



Echinocereus subinermis v. ochoterenae   The spiniest form of the species. Also produces the smallest flowers ( to about 2" across, max ) Other two forms ( which some lump together instead of separating ) can produce flowers up to 5 1/2" across, and are quite fragrant. Spines, if present, are extremely short on those forms. Hoping seed i purchased is one ( or a mix of both ) of these forms. All forms native to central / southern Sonora / Sinaloa.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Silas_Sancona
edit

[Hillizard]

3 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

More fireworks as we approach the end of another week..

Echinocereus sheeri v. sheeri.  putting on a bit more of a show. At one point in the day yesterday, 2 flowers were open, then another popped late in the afternoon. First of the 3 flowers is the same from the previous post.. Last quite a long time compared to a lot of other echinoceri flowers.  **In a previous post, i somehow got this mixed up w/ the other form of the species i have, E. sheeri. var, gentryi.  To be more confusing, have seen where everything is flipped around, with gentryi listed as the species, and sheeri as a variant.. ( E gentryi v. gentryi,  and E. gentryi v. sheeri )  Regardless, the " gentryi " form is late to flower this year, if it decides to at all.. but has bright pink flowers/ much smaller spines on the stems, as seen in last year's cactus season thread.

Astrophytum myriostigma, Bishop's Cap. Missed it throwing 3 flowers at once a couple weeks back..


Echinocereus subinermis v. ochoterenae   The spiniest form of the species. Also produces the smallest flowers ( to about 2" across, max ) Other two forms ( which some lump together instead of separating ) can produce flowers up to 5 1/2" across, and are quite fragrant. Spines, if present, are extremely short on those forms. Hoping seed i purchased is one ( or a mix of both ) of these forms. All forms native to central / southern Sonora / Sinaloa.
 

Yours are the safest "fireworks" for this time of year... and they last longer!

[Silas_Sancona]

5 minutes ago, Hillizard said:

Yours are the safest "fireworks" for this time of year... and they last longer!

 

[SailorBold]

Wow.. that is outstanding..   very beautiful too.  I do see a resemblance to echinopsis/trichocereus..   Those are amazing.. I need to get one.. lol.  I do hope I can get the trichocereus to hybridize with the echinocereus.  Im still waiting on the flying saucer to open up..  Do you think I can I collect pollen and store it?  I have a feeling my claret cups are going to be finished before i get the chance.

[Silas_Sancona]

4 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

Wow.. that is outstanding..   very beautiful too.  I do see a resemblance to echinopsis/trichocereus..   Those are amazing.. I need to get one.. lol.  I do hope I can get the trichocereus to hybridize with the echinocereus.  Im still waiting on the flying saucer to open up..  Do you think I can I collect pollen and store it?  I have a feeling my claret cups are going to be finished before i get the chance.

That's an interesting thought.. Not sure if they'd cross though, Have heard Echinopsis/ Trichos can be crossed with some other Genera but not sure if Echinocereus is one of them. Might be too far separated and incompatible, but, you never know...  Not sure on how long pollen remains viable. If you decide to store some, would put it in something like a plastic film canister / pill bottle and stick in the fridge. Don't wet though.  Made that mistake before, lol. 

[SailorBold]

42 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

That's an interesting thought.. Not sure if they'd cross though, Have heard Echinopsis/ Trichos can be crossed with some other Genera but not sure if Echinocereus is one of them. Might be too far separated and incompatible, but, you never know...  Not sure on how long pollen remains viable. If you decide to store some, would put it in something like a plastic film canister / pill bottle and stick in the fridge. Don't wet though.  Made that mistake before, lol. 

Well depending when the blooms start I may be limited to just the Flying Saucer x Echinocereus..   Flying Saucer x pentalophus..  Pentalophus x FLying Saucer.. and Pentalophus x Echinocereus..  Ill need to collect the pollen tomorrow though..... hope it works.. lets bring pangaea together again lol

[Silas_Sancona]

As i'd suspected earlier,  heat this week pushed the Trichocereus open, just in time for the weekend..

Echinopsis cv. "Sorceress" ( Bob Schick hybrid )






Trichocereus cv. " First Light " ( Mark Dimmitt hybrid )




Trichocereus cv. " Apricot Glow " ( Another of Mark Dimmitt's creations..) First flowers on this specimen..

[aztropic]

Our native barrels are bloomin'.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

A lot of cacti are masters of disguise, (until they flower).

Goats horns cactus

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

On 4/29/2020 at 10:27 AM, Johnny Palmseed said:

Do you know what the third picture is? I have one that looks like it that I have had for about 25 years. I got it at a big box store and it was labeled “cactus”. I had identified it and saved a picture on my home computer but it crashed. It used to pup like crazy and I had pulled them off as you can see one in the background. Now it doesn’t do that anymore. I haven’t seen a pup in years.

You mentioned pups and now mine has gone crazy!

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

Round 2... Already bloomed out a month ago,now added a couple more.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[aztropic]

That's wayyy to many pups to let stay.I will probably leave about 4 or 5 at the most.

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

[SailorBold]

On 5/9/2020 at 5:38 PM, aztropic said:

A lot of cacti are masters of disguise, (until they flower).

Goats horns cactus

 

aztropic

Mesa,Arizona

Indeed.. or as I'm learning they are inconspicuous.. you might not even notice them.. at all. Here is a pic of Epithelantha micromeris.. I just received an order from Arid lands.. going to get this in the ground somewhere.. where it doesn't get lost lol.  Wow! 

[SailorBold]

On 4/19/2020 at 10:48 AM, SailorBold said:

At this point the only thing I noticed was that there were 2 different colors of pollen..   I went to the ports of each opened flower.. and there you go. 

Pink - flowered coccineus, Like @aztropic's specimen

 

 

Ok.. it looks like it worked.. may be too early to tell as of yet but I'm pretty sure the flowers would have fallen off by now. 

[SailorBold]

Here is the Tricho.. and my Jubaea hybrid. Please excuse the weeds.. ive been working alot lately. 

How big does Trichocereus terscheckii need to be before it flowers??

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, SailorBold said:

Ok.. it looks like it worked.. may be too early to tell as of yet but I'm pretty sure the flowers would have fallen off by now. 

 

Nice, fruit look good..  Whats left of the flowers will remain attached until the fruit is fully or slightly over-ripe.  Believe the fruit themselves will change color, reddish/orange-ish i believe though i think the fruit may stay green in a a few sp.  Regardless,  spines surrounding the fruit will come off easily when ready to harvest. I'll sometimes burn them off ( doesn't hurt the fruit ) if they're stubborn.
 

Easiest way i have found to dry/process cacti seeds, especially on these/ others that produce "wet/pulpy" fruits: Scoop out the inside of the fruit ( spoon works well ) and dunk the mass of pulp/seed in something w/ some water in it, then smash up the fruit to release the seed. Will turn into a somewhat gloopy, gelatinous mass of what i like to call "Frog Snot", ha ha. Lay out some paper towels over something flat like a patio chair, than slowly pour the "gloop" over them. Excess water should drain through the paper towels. Mash up/spread out and remaining chunks of seed containing fruit and let our famous hot dry air do the rest. Once dry, carefully rub the seed off the paper towels, and into whatever you'll store them in. Much easier method than trying to extract seed a few at a time, trust me, lol. Barrel Cacti and some others produce drier fruits which are much easier to collect seed from.

You'll be able to tell any good seed from those that didn't develop.. Good seed will be jet black and kind of shiny. Bad seed is usually a red/ brown-ish color, at least on Echinocereus..

2 hours ago, SailorBold said:

Here is the Tricho.. and my Jubaea hybrid. Please excuse the weeds.. ive been working alot lately. 

How big does Trichocereus terscheckii need to be before it flowers??

 

Jubaea hybrid looks great..  Honestly not sure how old tersheks have to be before they'll start flowering.. Would think yours should be close at the height it is.. I'll have to look over the ones at Desert Botanical next time i visit once they reopen.. Thinking they were close in height to yours, just don't remember if i'd seen any flowers on them when i'd visited in the past.

 Don't sweat the weeds, Still working on finishing cleaning up the front yard, lol..

[SailorBold]

Alrighty.. timing will be key..  Flying Saucer is about to explode.. not sure if all will open tonight like they normally do.. the pentalophus might open tomorrow as well... wish me luck. 

 

How many buds are there!!!!?!? Thats the most I've ever seen..

[SailorBold]

Another shot..

[SailorBold]

Not sure which one this is..but thats going to open tomorrow I'm pretty sure..

[Silas_Sancona]

16 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

Not sure which one this is..but thats going to open tomorrow I'm pretty sure..

Echinocereus, likely one of the reichenbachii/ Lace Cactus types. Nice specimen..

WOW, That Tricho is LOADED.. Don't think i have seen one w/ that many buds.. That said, a Tricho. X " Volcanic Sunset " i planted out front is getting real close to bursting open. It's also got more buds on it this year than during the last two.

[SailorBold]

3 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Echinocereus, likely one of the reichenbachii/ Lace Cactus types. Nice specimen..

WOW, That Tricho is LOADED.. Don't think i have seen one w/ that many buds.. That said, a Tricho. X " Volcanic Sunset " i planted out front is getting real close to bursting open. It's also got more buds on it this year than during the last two.

Hmm..  Ill try that one too then.. if it opens lol.  Thanks for the ID.  

 

That tricho is crazy..  Do you realize how huge those blooms are??!?!?? lol... no wonder they call it a flying saucer lol..   I will also note that it gets zero water other than the precipitation we get.  I just wish it bloomed longer tho...   Would love to see the Volcanic Sunset..    I need to add more of these..  I picked up the Argentine Giant this year.. but now Im thinking I need to make these my base plantings..

On a side note.. Here are a few others im adding this year.. some are doubles to ones I already have..

	Trichocereus formosa
	Trichocereus bruchii
	Echinocactus texensis
	Echinocereus scheeri ssp. scheeri
	Ferocactus wislizeni
	Echinopsis crassicaulis 'Red Velvet'
	Epithelantha micromeris var. micromeris
	Trichocereus terscheckii
	Agave victoriae-reginae (Huasteca Canyon)
	Agave victoriae-reginae (Huasteca Canyon)
	Trichocereus huascha

[SailorBold]

31 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Echinocereus, likely one of the reichenbachii/ Lace Cactus types. Nice specimen..

WOW, That Tricho is LOADED.. Don't think i have seen one w/ that many buds.. That said, a Tricho. X " Volcanic Sunset " i planted out front is getting real close to bursting open. It's also got more buds on it this year than during the last two.

I cant remember where I got the Lace cactus.. it must have been at a local nursery.  the different color spines between the others in the group is cool.

[Silas_Sancona]

19 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

I cant remember where I got the Lace cactus.. it must have been at a local nursery.  the different color spines between the others in the group is cool.

Spines on AZ. Rainbow ( Echinocereus rigidissimus ) are pretty neat when examined up close.  Collected about a dozen fruit off widely spaced E. englemanii plants out in habitat when i went out there last week. As i'm sure you saw in some of the pictures in the " Way out Yonder P. #2 " thread, lots of variation in the spine color among many of the specimens i observed out there.. Really like the dark- spined ones i came across, and those that have like 3 or 4 colors in the spines of one plant.. Might make some real nice crosses later.

Volcanic Sunset is a nice dark Red/ Orange hybrid.. Mine bleaches a bit where it's placed out front but manages to survive the heat/ almost all day full sun exposure thru the summer.  Took a couple pups off it last year so i won't have to buy another later, lol.  There's a nursery a bit north of San Diego that specializes in Eipphyllums and Echinopsis/Trichocereus hybrids.. Have a list of stuff i plan on picking up from them later.

Wonder if the rock you planted the Flying Saucer might have something to do w/ how well it is flowering.. I know most of the Trichos/ Echinopsis (  ..and most Echionceri. Likely other stuff too ) like decent amounts of Potassium, and Magnesium and any gravel derived of Granite will slowly release K and Mag into the soil. Regardless, that's one of the nicest examples of that variety i've seen.

Nice list of additions.. If you like Agave victorae reginae,  Agave pintilla is another nice looking, small-ish Agave.. Looking at mine, regretting not picking up another when i'd had the opportunity, lol..

[SailorBold]

Tragedy has struck

The pentalophus bloomed yesterday... and alot of the Flying saucer buds bloomed last night. This is different than other years as the main flush of blooms is normally one night.. so it looks like it will bloom the next couple nights or so. Alas..

I went out this morning to check the status and came across a large broken stem. I guess the weight of the flowers was just too much. It was too breezy yesterday to attempt any operations.

Anyhow.. I was able to grab some of the wilting pentalophus flowers and did a quick pollination. 

Keep your fingers crossed...

[SailorBold]

I don't really think this is going to work lol..  but here goes. 

[SailorBold]

[jimmyt]

Very nice Cacti everyone!         Quite jealous of your achievements.  Show us more.........

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, SailorBold said:

Tragedy has struck

The pentalophus bloomed yesterday... and alot of the Flying saucer buds bloomed last night. This is different than other years as the main flush of blooms is normally one night.. so it looks like it will bloom the next couple nights or so. Alas..

I went out this morning to check the status and came across a large broken stem. I guess the weight of the flowers was just too much. It was too breezy yesterday to attempt any operations.

Anyhow.. I was able to grab some of the wilting pentalophus flowers and did a quick pollination. 

Keep your fingers crossed...

That stinks.. Have seen that happen to nursery plants that either got knocked over, or were just too top heavy for their pot.  You could either leave it attached as -is, and let it finish flowering.. or try and cut it ( as straight across as possible ) and re-plant elsewhere after the cut has scabbed over for about 2 weeks in a shaded spot. Buds might keep flowering though i'd remove them so the stem isn't wasting extra energy while trying to heal and push new roots... No need to put anything on it ( rooting hormone/sulphur dust, etc. ) Trichos usually heal cuts/ root after healing pretty easily. just don't water much until it is obvious it has started regrowing.  Old stem might try and branch from the cut, or pup from the outward facing side of it.

[Silas_Sancona]

While some other stuff continues to sprinkle random flowers,  caught the last big " Harrah " of Trichocereus season this morning..  As mentioned, many more flowers on this one this year compared to the last two.. Really, this is the most flowers this variety has produced so far..

Trichocereus X cv. " Volcanic Sunset " Another of Mark Dimmitt's amazing introductions.. He also did extensive hybridizing of Desert Rose ( Adeniums ) as well. Several of his crosses are available from various sources from time to time.  For anyone curious, his many contributions to both the Tucson Cactus and Orchid Society are worth some research.. Let alone all the years he was curator for the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Mark is also one of several veteran researchers to conduct  decades of more extensive research of the Yecora / Alamos regions of Sonora Mexico..

Couldn't ask for a better morning for the flowers to open.. Dropped to about 60F last night. Only supposed to reach the mid 80s later.. Might be the last high 50s/low 60F morning for awhile though.. MUCH hotter weather by the middle/ end of next week. Maybe even our first official 110F/+110F readings of the year.. a bit ahead of schedule.

'Couple closer-ups of the flowers:




Overall shots of the entire plant:

[SailorBold]

12 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

That stinks.. Have seen that happen to nursery plants that either got knocked over, or were just too top heavy for their pot.  You could either leave it attached as -is, and let it finish flowering.. or try and cut it ( as straight across as possible ) and re-plant elsewhere after the cut has scabbed over for about 2 weeks in a shaded spot. Buds might keep flowering though i'd remove them so the stem isn't wasting extra energy while trying to heal and push new roots... No need to put anything on it ( rooting hormone/sulphur dust, etc. ) Trichos usually heal cuts/ root after healing pretty easily. just don't water much until it is obvious it has started regrowing.  Old stem might try and branch from the cut, or pup from the outward facing side of it.

Yeah.. bummer.. maybe in the future Ill put a tomato cage around them.  Im not entirely disappointed tho..this way Ill be able to divide it a little and get another plant out of it..Hey do you think I can cut the broken stem into 3 inch sections and then plant them?   They are still a very marginal plant here..thats why I planted it so close on a protected south wall but Im figuring if worse comes to worse I might be able to cut them all back to ground level after one of our severe freezes and they will come back for another 10-15 years.

[SailorBold]

11 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

While some other stuff continues to sprinkle random flowers,  caught the last big " Harrah " of Trichocereus season this morning..  As mentioned, many more flowers on this one this year compared to the last two.. Really, this is the most flowers this variety has produced so far..

Trichocereus X cv. " Volcanic Sunset " Another of Mark Dimmitt's amazing introductions.. He also did extensive hybridizing of Desert Rose ( Adeniums ) as well. Several of his crosses are available from various sources from time to time.  For anyone curious, his many contributions to both the Tucson Cactus and Orchid Society are worth some research.. Let alone all the years he was curator for the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Mark is also one of several veteran researchers to conduct  decades of more extensive research of the Yecora / Alamos regions of Sonora Mexico..

Couldn't ask for a better morning for the flowers to open.. Dropped to about 60F last night. Only supposed to reach the mid 80s later.. Might be the last high 50s/low 60F morning for awhile though.. MUCH hotter weather by the middle/ end of next week. Maybe even our first official 110F/+110F readings of the year.. a bit ahead of schedule.

'Couple closer-ups of the flowers:


 

I think tomorrow will be the last of the Flying saucer as well.. maybe a few left on the broken stem now..but.. sad to see them go.  My neighbors noticed them. I think there may be a lone pentalouphus flower opening tomorrow..  Ill try to pollinate it.

Interesting that variety Volcanic Sunset hasnt pupped at all?  Still an outstanding plant.....it does have the color of a sunset.. yup.  Is that one of the more columnar types?

The weather is cooling here a bit as well.. after 94 a couple days ago...these cold fronts seem to be coming in waves..  will warm up next week too.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

Yeah.. bummer.. maybe in the future Ill put a tomato cage around them.  Im not entirely disappointed tho..this way Ill be able to divide it a little and get another plant out of it..Hey do you think I can cut the broken stem into 3 inch sections and then plant them?   They are still a very marginal plant here..thats why I planted it so close on a protected south wall but Im figuring if worse comes to worse I might be able to cut them all back to ground level after one of our severe freezes and they will come back for another 10-15 years.

That i'm not sure of.. though it's something i might experiment w/ later.. What i'd think would happen w/ a center cut like that ( say if you cut that stem in two. one half w/ the growing tip, the other w/out ) is the center cut would pup from the side vs. budding from just below the cut.  Too small of cutting might not have enough energy to root/start producing offsets, unless maybe you had a greenhouse. The other potential issue might just be getting the top part of the cut to callus properly ..so that there isn't a depression moisture could sit in once it is placed in the ground. 

Not sure whether or not the entire plant would re-grow if completely beheaded following a really bad winter. What would be left of the plant might just rot before having a chance to start regrowing.. If it came down to it, you could always take non damaged stems, let dry out and start indoors, then replant again if you had to.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

17 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

I think tomorrow will be the last of the Flying saucer as well.. maybe a few left on the broken stem now..but.. sad to see them go.  My neighbors noticed them. I think there may be a lone pentalouphus flower opening tomorrow..  Ill try to pollinate it.

Interesting that variety Volcanic Sunset hasnt pupped at all?  Still an outstanding plant.....it does have the color of a sunset.. yup.  Is that one of the more columnar types?

The weather is cooling here a bit as well.. after 94 a couple days ago...these cold fronts seem to be coming in waves..  will warm up next week too.

It had pups, until i took them off last summer, lol.. Putting on a couple new ones atm.  Is one of the upright, less sprawling types, like Flying Saucer, First Light, June Noon, etc..  That said, many of the hybrids can have stems that eventually bend down as they spread out.

Enjoying one last cool night ( supposed to bottom out around 58F or so here ) Slow warm up tomorrow -over the weekend before Scorch time returns.. Besides possibly seeing our first 110's of the year ( 112-115F has been suggested for Phoenix in a few runs by the GFS  -T. tidbits data- ) and maybe an interesting end to the month /start of June also both for us, and your side of New Mexico .. rare, early June shower(s) / Another Monsoon season tease, perhaps??.. Keeping a close eye on the WX models for late next week/ weekend.

[Silas_Sancona]

Two different flower forms of Echinopsis subdunada, which has apparently been placed into the Echinopsis ancistrophora group as a distinct variety of that species which contains other forms that produce Yellow, Yellow Orange, Magenta, Pinkish, or Red flowers and often has small spines.  

Have had these two, and another clone, of this species for almost 10 years, planted in the same pots the whole time.. While they don't flower quite as heavily here compared to back in San Jose ( CA. ) where i could get 6 or 7 flowers to open at a time, they are reliable repeat bloomers and will sprinkle their bright white flowers.. and a nice but mild Jasmine -like scent where they are placed throughout the spring and summer.  Here, they have to have bright shade most of the day, especially through the summer. Back in San Jose, they did fine in more sun, with a break from hot sun in the afternoon during the summer. Hardiness falls somewhere between 18-20F, perhaps a degree or two lower if kept dry in winter.. Regardless, a very easy grower and very attractive in a pot. Offsets freely, and the pups can put on size quickly. Can flower within a year of being separated/potted up.

Narrow-er petaled form:




Wide-petaled form:  Of the 3 clones i have, the body of this one is the largest/ tallest, size-wise.


Non cacti extra:  First Plumeria flower of the season, Plumeria obtusa, " Singapore White " Hasn't flowered in a couple years.

[Silas_Sancona]

As the long, hot " Dog Days " of pre- Monsoon late Spring / Early Summer settle in, can always count on the last of the late spring flowering and re-blooming cacti to add some color while most other stuff takes a break from the heat, or finishes up flowering for the year.

Trichocereus X Huntington Acquisition #1 gearing up for round two. Will post a couple pics once they're fully open in the morning. Really like how interesting the "scales" on the floral tube are, even before the flowers open ( pic. #2 ) Echinopsis X Sorceress is also gearing up for it's second flush. Counted a total of 13 buds forming on both stems atm.





Echinocereus stoloniferus var. tayopensis. While the "Stoloniferus " part of the name would imply that this species can offset via stolons, this particular specimen has yet to do so. May be that it is too young to begin offsetting, or just needs a bigger pot. Great little " Hedgehog " cacti from Gravely spots in Open Forests, Dry Grasslands, and Oak Woodland transitional areas of eastern Sonora / Western Chihuahua. Hardy to -7c for brief periods. Notice the size difference between the flower on it, and the flower on Echinocereus subinermis var. ochoterenae in the background ( pic. #2 )





Last flower on the second Echinocereus subinermis var. ochoterenae. May be hard to see in the picture, but appears developing fruit on the first specimen ( behind thsi one ) should hold / were pollinated. Pretty sure i pollinated these w/ pollen off the AZ Rainbow ( Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubrispinus ) behind it. Developing fruit on both specimens of those also look good..



Crossed seed of the following sp. of the " to-acquire list " last week: 

Echinocereus carmensis. This sp. supposedly produces flowers that have a strong scent of  ..Chocolate. Want to eventually try crossing with another species that produces Reddish or Brown colored flowers.

Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri ..a especially nicely spined form of the species.

Echinocereus  mapimiensis. Tepals ( What would be Petals on a traditional flower.. Cacti generally produce Tepals instead of Petals ) on this sp. are striped Dark Brown, Orangish Brown, and White. Not especially large, but supposedly produced in abundance on mature specimens.

Echinocereus nivosus, Hairy-looking, " Old Man" spined Hedgehog. Some consider it a separate species. Other people, one of 2 or 3 forms of another Echinocereus sp. ( E. delaetii  )

Echinocereus palmeri, another of the spectacular " Chihuahuan Hedgehogs "

Echinocereus papillosus var. angusticeps. Don't think i have seen these offered anywhere i have looked.. Another really nice, smaller clustering Hedgehog. can produce flowers 12-14cm ( approx. 5" ) across in April and May.

And lastly, Echinocereus sciurus. Curious to make a comparison between seed i'd picked up from a local source, and this company.  Only a few of the seed from the local source have germinated so far and seemed kind of small. Have heard many great things regarding the quality of seed from the company i'm ordering from on this round, so we'll see if there are any notable differences on germination rates.  Regardless, a pretty hard to find Baja native Echinocereus so if seed, from both sources, ends up germinating well, all the better..  

Edited May 29, 2020 by Silas_Sancona
edit

[Hillizard]

Here are my last cactus flower posts for the year: my potted Echinopsis sp. in more or less full bloom, and my African tree (Dais cotinifolia ) before the latest heatwave fried the flowers that bloom in globular clusters.

[Silas_Sancona]

15 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Trichocereus X Huntington Acquisition #1 gearing up for round two. Will post a couple pics once they're fully open in the morning. Really like how interesting the "scales" on the floral tube are, even before the flowers open ( pic. #2 ) Echinopsis X Sorceress is also gearing up for it's second flush. Counted a total of 13 buds forming on both stems atm.

As promised, fully open flowers earlier this morning. already starting to fade now that they're exposed to more sun.  Currently 106F in Downtown Chandler, 104F at our local, Chandler Regional Airport. 104-109f across the rest of the local area.. Several neighborhood Wx stations at 110F scattered across the East Valley atm also.. "Official", at the Airport Forecast here, and in Phoenix is 112F today.