Tis' the season for Cactus Flowers, 2022: A steady pace

[Silas_Sancona]

Echinopsis X " Napea "



Coryphantha sulcata





Regionally native Caudiciform inclusions..

Bursera silviae,  Male flowered specimen closeups.





Bursera fageroides ..Forming fruit.  Majority of Bursera are either male or female / single - sex specimens.. Uncommon to end up w/ a specimen that is self- productive. None of the other 6 sp. of Bursera in my collection were flowering at the same time. Specimen is less than 3ft in height ..but covered w/ developing fruit.  Pretty sweet..

[tinman10101]

my echinopsis contribution.  

 

 

and a couple  of days later ....

[Meangreen94z]

Gymnocalycium damsii:Gymnocalycium calochlorum;Gymnocalycium baldianum:Lobivia aculeata:Echinopsis schreiteri:

[Meangreen94z]

Opuntia flowering on Enchanted Rock.

[RyManUtah]

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Thelocactus setispinus



Echinopsis  " Fond Adieu "

[teddytn]

Opuntia Basilaris 

Echinocereus reichenbachii

 

[Meangreen94z]

Echinocereus enneacanthus Opuntia sp.Not 100% certain on what form of Lobivia, possibly chrysochete, or minutiflora. unfortunately caught the flower closing at dusk:

[Silas_Sancona]

Trichocereus   X  " June Noon "





 
Trichocereus   X " Apricot Glow "

Shaded..



W/ a touch of sun peaking through..







Echinopsis subdunada   ..narrower - petaled specimen

[WSimpson]

My Opuntia is about to pop with flowers .The picture below was a few years ago . 

[Silas_Sancona]

Echinopsis subdunada, narrow petaled form, round #2



Coryphantha robustispina



Mammillaria grahamii getting ready for their opening act for the summer.. 





Never understood why some people say these are tough to grow.. Plant them in the soil they want .. Nearly pure Granite, ..not the bagged " stuff " offered by garden centers / nurseries too lazy to use the right soil  ..Spray w/ the hose once a month, .. late March- September, > No water thru the winter months <   ...Sprinkle a little Langbenite around them once every year ( mainly specimens in containers ), and keep in morning sun / bright, filtered shade thru the afternoon ..and they grow fine. Doesn't sound that challenging.

 

[Meangreen94z]

[BigFrond]

The barrel cactus has thorns about 3 inches long

[Silas_Sancona]

3" spines are good,  5 -5 1/2" spines = Savage.

Ferocactus emoryi v. rectispinus








A little homework + minimal effort and a steady hand =  Should be interesting to see what comes of this cross..  While the other fruit i cross pollinated on this specimen is hanging on, We'll see if it finishes filling out. Waiting for the fruit to finish ripening on the AZ Rainbows ( Echinocereus rigidissimus v. rubrispinus ) to see if the seed will be good as well.

[teddytn]

18 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

3" spines are good,  5 -5 1/2" spines = Savage.

Ferocactus emoryi v. rectispinus








A little homework + minimal effort and a steady hand =  Should be interesting to see what comes of this cross..  While the other fruit i cross pollinated on this specimen is hanging on, We'll see if it finishes filling out. Waiting for the fruit to finish ripening on the AZ Rainbows ( Echinocereus rigidissimus v. rubrispinus ) to see if the seed will be good as well.

I always classify the savageness of a cactus by how bad it would hurt if you fell on it  

[Silas_Sancona]

15 minutes ago, teddytn said:

I always classify the savageness of a cactus by how bad it would hurt if you fell on it  

5" spine will go through a hand, foot, or arm. That's pretty savage.

[teddytn]

9 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

5" spine will go through a hand, foot, or arm. That's pretty savage.

No doubt about it! They call echinocactus horse crippler for a good reason I imagine

[Silas_Sancona]

27 minutes ago, teddytn said:

No doubt about it! They call echinocactus horse crippler for a good reason I imagine

I'm sure it would hurt.. Like having a splinter or cactus spine get jammed up under a finger or toe nail..  Sure better than cuddling up w/ overly clingy  Cylindropuntia bigelovii  though..  That's a nasty .... haha

[teddytn]

7 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

I'm sure it would hurt.. Like having a splinter or cactus spine get jammed up under a finger or toe nail..  Sure better than cuddling up w/ overly clingy  Cylindropuntia bigelovii  though..  That's a nasty .... haha

I’ve never messed with a bigelovii. Imbricata sucks, the spines go deep with like the slightest touch, but the segments stay together when you pull back luckily. Is that true about bigelovii that the segments separate really easily? 

[Silas_Sancona]

4 minutes ago, teddytn said:

I’ve never messed with a bigelovii. Imbricata sucks, the spines go deep with like the slightest touch, but the segments stay together when you pull back luckily. Is that true about bigelovii that the segments separate really easily? 

Stem segments separate VERY easily, lol.. Individual Spines, or bundles of them, will detach easily from the Areoles as well..  Really painful to remove, even if it seems the spines haven't latched on all that well. Have scars from the few i've managed to tangle with ..and one was in my shoe, then moved to my ankle when i tried to remove the bundle of spines from my shoe.  Can't imagine the damage from falling into one ..Say if you bailed on a Mountain Bike ( some cringe- worthy vids. on line of that ), or slipped on a trail near one.

Even seemingly dried out, spine covered pieces that sit below them are still plenty grabby..  Same w/ Chain Fruit Cholla ( C. fulgida ) and " Jumping " Cholla ( C. imbricata )

Spines of both Buckhorn Cholla ( C. acanthocarpa ) and Thurber's / Staghorn Cholla ( C. thurberi  / C. thurberi ssp. versicolor ) can be grabby ..and somewhat painful to remove, ..but not nearly as much as bigelovi, or the other two common Cholla species here, ..Has been by experiences w/ both so far anyway.

Haven't yet been grabbed by my Christmas Cholla yet, though what Glochids it possesses can be a little annoying.  Far less Glochids than many Opuntia though. 

Can handle My " Nude " Diamond Cholla ( I think.. Not 100% certain of the exact species.. ) w/ out  any real trouble.. though i still use tongs when i need to.  Will be working on getting this one big enough to start taking cuttings.. Real neat Cactus.

Original plant i took the cutting off was killed by bad placement ( Whomever planted it put it in way too much shade. Does not like full sun either. ~ almost killed this one. ) and a really bad Mealy Bug infestation. Re-cut this one after the base rotted ( From sun damage. )

[teddytn]

17 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Stem segments separate VERY easily, lol.. Individual Spines, or bundles of them, will detach easily from the Areoles as well..  Really painful to remove, even if it seems the spines haven't latched on all that well. Have scars from the few i've managed to tangle with ..and one was in my shoe, then moved to my ankle when i tried to remove the bundle of spines from my shoe.  Can't imagine the damage from falling into one ..Say if you bailed on a Mountain Bike ( some cringe- worthy vids. on line of that ), or slipped on a trail near one.

Even seemingly dried out, spine covered pieces that sit below them are still plenty grabby..  Same w/ Chain Fruit Cholla ( C. fulgida ) and " Jumping " Cholla ( C. imbricata )

Spines of both Buckhorn Cholla ( C. acanthocarpa ) and Thurber's / Staghorn Cholla ( C. thurberi  / C. thurberi ssp. versicolor ) can be grabby ..and somewhat painful to remove, ..but not nearly as much as bigelovi, or the other two common Cholla species here, ..Has been by experiences w/ both so far anyway.

Haven't yet been grabbed by my Christmas Cholla yet, though what Glochids it possesses can be a little annoying.  Far less Glochids than many Opuntia though. 

Can handle My " Nude " Diamond Cholla ( I think.. Not 100% certain of the exact species.. ) w/ out  any real trouble.. though i still use tongs when i need to.  Will be working on getting this one big enough to start taking cuttings.. Real neat Cactus.

Original plant i took the cutting off was killed by bad placement ( Whomever planted it put it in way too much shade. Does not like full sun either. ~ almost killed this one. ) and a really bad Mealy Bug infestation. Re-cut this one after the base rotted ( From sun damage. )

I think I have a measly 5 or 6 species of cylindropuntia lol, it’s crazy here w many there are that are cold hardy, could fill a small yard with just those and not even plant an opuntia. That “diamond” above is killer!!!!

[Silas_Sancona]

3 hours ago, teddytn said:

I think I have a measly 5 or 6 species of cylindropuntia lol, it’s crazy here w many there are that are cold hardy, could fill a small yard with just those and not even plant an opuntia. That “diamond” above is killer!!!!

It's a pretty sweet Cylindropuntia  for sure, esp. considering the standard Diamond Cholla form is spinier ( but also pretty cool itself )

DBG Cylindorpuntia ramosissima  specimens, standard form:




Both forms of C ramosissima, Staghorn ( the dark Red / burnt Orange, and Magenta colored forms of it ) Christmas Cholla.. and a couple more of the smaller sized sp. are the only ones i'll mess with.. Big ones are neat to see out in the desert, but,  like cats,  someone else can deal w/ them,  -in their own yard, lol.

[teddytn]

52 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

It's a pretty sweet Cylindropuntia  for sure, esp. considering the standard Diamond Cholla form is spinier ( but also pretty cool itself )

DBG Cylindorpuntia ramosissima  specimens, standard form:




Both forms of C ramosissima, Staghorn ( the dark Red / burnt Orange, and Magenta colored forms of it ) Christmas Cholla.. and a couple more of the smaller sized sp. are the only ones i'll mess with.. Big ones are neat to see out in the desert, but,  like cats,  someone else can deal w/ them,  -in their own yard, lol.

I need to get a staghorn for sure. Almost bought an arbuscula the other day.

I hear ya, big spiny bastards when they get real big they own that area lol. Speaking of which I just planted cylindropuntia imbricata arborescens giant form lol ( say that 3 times fast ) I have a liking for the big ones lol. 
Since we’re on your flowering thread….are most cylindropuntia more shy bloomers than standard opuntia, seems so? Smaller size spinosor is going to flower, have yet to see an imbricata flower at my house yet…..maybe operator error lol

[teddytn]

Mammilaria nejapensisMammilaria sp? Cylindropuntia spinosior 

[Meangreen94z]

A few more

[SailorBold]

On 5/8/2022 at 2:10 PM, Meangreen94z said:

Opuntia flowering on Enchanted Rock.

I don't care what you say.. the earth is flat.

[SailorBold]

I may get the first flowers on my terscheckii this summer... which may be in part due to the rain we've been getting.  It's on its way to 7 feet tall now. I still have some flying saucer flowers about to pop..im going to try and hybridize it..  so stay tuned..

 

[RyManUtah]

25 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

I may get the first flowers on my terscheckii this summer... which may be in part due to the rain we've been getting.  It's on its way to 7 feet tall now. I still have some flying saucer flowers about to pop..im going to try and hybridize it..  so stay tuned..

 

*Anxiously waits for updates in envy* 

[SailorBold]

Some of the last buds on my flying saucer opened overnight! So I grabbed a pill container and collected some pollen/ stamens.

I'm going to have to wait until the terscheckii flowers open..but I put the container in the fridge with the lid half on..

Is that sufficient to store pollen? It will dry out as well?

[Silas_Sancona]

Gotta love summer flowering cacti..

Echinopsis X  " Sorceress "



Mamm - 'a - graham, cycle #2:











Young rescue specimen resembling the narrower - petaled form of the species..



Now that my large Dyckia rariflora has finished flowering / setting seed ( lots of it ), time to move it to a wider pot / put a group of Mam grahams together in a display.

[SailorBold]

Ok.. wasn't sure.. but these are definitely going to bloom. The lowest bud started last year.. 

[Silas_Sancona]

30 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

Ok.. wasn't sure.. but these are definitely going to bloom. The lowest bud started last year.. 

Lower bud may or may not be good.. Have had my Trichos. / Echinopsis do the same thing only to abort the buds.. Top ones should be good to go though, and should develop pretty quickly.

[SailorBold]

On 7/1/2022 at 7:31 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Lower bud may or may not be good.. Have had my Trichos. / Echinopsis do the same thing only to abort the buds.. Top ones should be good to go though, and should develop pretty quickly.

Almost there... and yes, they are developing really quickly!  So excited to see my first terscheckii flower!

The pollen from the flying saucer is currently still stored in the fridge.. I picked up some small fan paintbrushes to help try the cross.  Just to see how this would work.. do I remove all the stamens once these bloom? Or do I cut off all the flower petals too?  Do I cover the pistol with something once I pollinate it?   I really need to get a book on this but I'd love to hear of anyone's techniques to send me in the right direction.. appreciate the help!

On a side note.. hummingbirds really like the fuzzawhazzits.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, SailorBold said:

Almost there... and yes, they are developing really quickly!  So excited to see my first terscheckii flower!

The pollen from the flying saucer is currently still stored in the fridge.. I picked up some small fan paintbrushes to help try the cross.  Just to see how this would work.. do I remove all the stamens once these bloom? Or do I cut off all the flower petals too?  Do I cover the pistol with something once I pollinate it?   I really need to get a book on this but I'd love to hear of anyone's techniques to send me in the right direction.. appreciate the help!

On a side note.. hummingbirds really like the fuzzawhazzits.

Sweet!...  Weather permitting, they should start popping within the next couple weeks..

As far as pollinating, no need to cut off all the Stamens ( you could if you wanted to though ) or the Petals..  When i cross stuff, all i do is apply donor Pollen to the Stigma..  The trick is getting to the flowers just as they open, before bees / Pollinating Wasps / other hands in the " pollination crew " can pollinate.

Brush both the outer and inner surfaces of the filaments on Stigma, not just one side or the other to be sure every opportunity for pollination is covered..  You'll likely notice that the filaments on the Stigma are sort of rough textured (...is how they capture and hold pollen grains ) as you apply pollen w/ the paint brush.

About 6-11 days after the flowers fade, you should be able to tell if the pollen stuck and will continue on to produce / develop fertile fruit. You could... but not sure how you'd cover the fruit while it develops.  Could also use something like the green ties you'd close bags of Produce from the store with and carefully loop it around the developing fruit, w/ some sort of self- made tag attached that says which flowers were cross pollinated / date you did the cross (es ).. 

Crossing my fingers for ya..

[Silas_Sancona]

First group of " Cactus Chilies " ( Ripe Fruit of Mammillaria grahamii  ) of the season.. All these came off one of the two oldest specimens.  More fruit, and flowers on the way on both..



Some sources say they're edible ..and taste similar to Strawberries ( like the fruit off Echinocereus stramenieus ) Other sources cite that the fruit may possess a chemical that would produce mild, narcotic effects if consumed ( likely in larger quantities, vs. just a few ).. Interesting regardless..

[SailorBold]

On 7/9/2022 at 10:26 AM, Silas_Sancona said:

Sweet!...  Weather permitting, they should start popping within the next couple weeks..

As far as pollinating, no need to cut off all the Stamens ( you could if you wanted to though ) or the Petals..  When i cross stuff, all i do is apply donor Pollen to the Stigma..  The trick is getting to the flowers just as they open, before bees / Pollinating Wasps / other hands in the " pollination crew " can pollinate.

Brush both the outer and inner surfaces of the filaments on Stigma, not just one side or the other to be sure every opportunity for pollination is covered..  You'll likely notice that the filaments on the Stigma are sort of rough textured (...is how they capture and hold pollen grains ) as you apply pollen w/ the paint brush.

About 6-11 days after the flowers fade, you should be able to tell if the pollen stuck and will continue on to produce / develop fertile fruit. You could... but not sure how you'd cover the fruit while it develops.  Could also use something like the green ties you'd close bags of Produce from the store with and carefully loop it around the developing fruit, w/ some sort of self- made tag attached that says which flowers were cross pollinated / date you did the cross (es ).. 

Crossing my fingers for ya..

Thanks for your insight..I appreciate it..

Looks like tonight is the night.. for the first flower anyhow. I'll be pollinating soon ill keep this updated for sure!

I'll try to get some good photos..

[SailorBold]

This is so fliipin cool.. its quick!!

[Silas_Sancona]

8 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

This is so fliipin cool.. its quick!!

No matter how tempted, no blasting Bad Company's " Feel like makin' love " while pollinating tonight,  haha

[SailorBold]

39 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

No matter how tempted, no blasting Bad Company's " Feel like makin' love " while pollinating tonight,  haha

Lol.... 

It is done.. I couldn't get pictures.. but its finished..hope it works!

The flower is beautiful! Good size too..

Wonder what the cross might look like??

 

[Silas_Sancona]

15 minutes ago, SailorBold said:

Lol.... 

It is done.. I couldn't get pictures.. but its finished..hope it works!

The flower is beautiful! Good size too..

Wonder what the cross might look like??

 

My best  guess would be,  if successful,  any seedling produced plants would exhibit varying degrees of  traits between the two ( which ever parent's genes are the most dominant ) .. Some plants could be more columnar, like Terschek.. but might produce big, pink/ pink-ish flowers.. while other plants may sprawl more, like Flying saucer ..or resemble some of those short but super chunky Trichcereus hybrids you see at HD or Lowe's..  Paying close attention to differences in how the spines are arranged on each seedling as they grow, and between both parents, should offer clues before the seedlings are old enough to flower.  Chances are, you'll get a lot of " average " plants, w/ a few real standouts thrown in..

A large sized, columnar-type cross w/ big pink/ orangish-pink flowers ..instead of white/ near white, would definitely be pretty neat..