Klein’s Cylinder Pencil Cactus

I can’t remember when I first met Cylindropuntia kleiniae, but it was somewhere back in my early years, during a family cross country drive, designed to expose us kids to the entirety of the US. I fell in love with cactus, despite being repeatedly stabbed as I tried to rescue a pad to take home.

Since that time, I’ve encountered this native of Texas, New Mexico, and into Mexico more times than I care to remember. This hardy pencil cactus is the Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree of cacti…kinda homely, but loveable in a motherly sort of way. In the garden, it forms an open 6′ specimen.

Desert Beauties

This winter took out several of our trial barrel cactus, but despite the losses, we’ve still got a good selection of survivors. Peak flowering season is late April through late May, so below are a few that we’ve manage to photograph during that period. The key for growing barrel cactus in cold wet climates is excellent winter drainage and bright sun. There are many genera to choose from, as you’ll see below.

Coryphantha scheeri is a Chihuahuan desert species that ranges from Texas south into Northern Mexico.

Coryphantha scheeri

Coryphantha macromeris ssp. runyonii is a sea level species that’s only found on both sides of the Rio Grande River, which divides the United States and Mexico.

Coryphantha macromeris ssp. runyonii

Echinocereus coccineus is native to much of the Southwestern US. This seed grown collection hails from Hudspeth County, TX.

Echinocereus coccineus

Echinocereus x roetteri is one of our favorites. This naturally occurring hybrid between Echinocereus coccineus and Echinocereus dasyacanthus has flower colors that range through the entire rainbow spectrum. This is a stunning purple flowered form, we grew from seed from Pecos. County, TX.

Echinocereus x roetteri purple flowered form

Echinocereus palmeri is another Chihuan Desert species from Northern Mexico.

Echinocereus palmeri

Echinocereus papillosus var. angusticeps stradles the Texas/Mexico line. Our plants sailed through our 11F winter.

Echinocereus papillosus var. angusticeps

This beautiful clump of Echinocereus reichenbachii var. baileyi was grown from seed from a population in Granite, Oklahoma.

Echinocereus reichenbachii var. baileyi

Gymnocalycium deeszianum hails from south of the Equator in the Cordoba Province of Argentina. Unlike most of the previous cactus, which tolerate or prefer alkaline soils, gymnocalycium prefer acidic soils.

Gymnocalycium deeszianum

Notocactus floricomis is another superb performer from Argentina

Notocactus floricomis

Notocactus x hertonis is from a Mike Papay cross of the pink flowering Notocactus herteri and the yellow-flowering Notocactus ottonis.

Notocactus x hertonis

Finally, Notocactus x subteri is another superb Mike Papay hybrid of the pink-flowering Notocactus herteri and the yellow-flowered Notocactus submamulosus.

Notocactus x subteri

Minimally Endangered

Flowering now is the Federally Endangered hardy cactus, Escobaria minnima. Our plants are now almost five years old from seed. We are thrilled to see that these have performed so well, sailing through our 11 degree F. winter this year. This extremely rare gem (G1 rank) is only found a single rock outcrop in Brewster County, Texas, hence it was added to the Endangered Species list in 1979. (Hardiness Zone 5b-9b).

Escobaria minnima

Tough Love Child

We were thrilled to see most of our plants of Trichocereus ‘Love Child’ come through the 11 degrees F unscathed. We hope to have enough of these in the next year or two to share. We had long wanted to grow and offer some of the ridiculously large flowered, tacky colored tropical trichocereus cactus, but they simply had no winter hardiness.

Enter our former volunteer curator, Mike Papay, who had the same idea, but was more determined to make it happen. Mike worked with Trichocereus bruchii, and the resulting second generation plants yielded one he named Trichocereus ‘Big Time’.

He created another winter hardy hybrid using Trichocereus bruchii and Trichocereus thelogonus that he named Trichocereus ‘Iridescent Watermelon’. We subsequently crossed both of Mike’s hybrids together to create a seed strain we named Trichocereus ‘Love Child’. Below is one of our garden plants after enduring 11 degrees F. Below that is the same plant in flower last spring. Hardiness zone 7b to 10b.

Trichocereus ‘Love Child’
Trichocereus ‘Love Child’

Cat Whiskers Cactus

Our planting of Glandulicactus wrightii is looking quite lovely as we head into fall. Sadly, few folks take time to closely examine the fascinating and intricate arrangements of cactus spines. Glandulicactus wrightii, which is native to Texas and adjacent Mexico has amazingly long, hooked spines that resemble cat whiskers. Long term winter hardiness is hopeful here in Zone 7b, since the seed from which this was grown came from a population at 5,000′ elevation on the New Mexico/Texas border.

Glandulicactus wrightii in the crevice garden
Glandulicactus wrightii

More pricks

It’s been quite a floral extravaganza this spring in the dryland garden sections. Here are the latest of our flowering barrel cactus that have bloomed recently at JLBG. All of our cactus are growing outside without any winter protection in our zone 7b garden. The key for most is simply good soil drainage.

Coryphantha sulcata
Echinocereus coccineus
Echinocereus papillosus var. angusticeps
Echinocereus reichenbachii var. baileyi
Echinocereus stoloniferus
Echinocereus x roetteri
Echinopsis ancistrophora
Escobaria dasyacantha SB601
Escobaria vivipara var. neomexicana
Lobivia atrovirens var. ritteri
Lobivia haemantantha
Lobivia thionantha
Notocactus apricus
Notocactus floricomus
Notocactus x subluteus (submammulosus x roseoluteus)
Trichocereus 20-07 (‘Big Time’ x Iridescent Watermelon’)

Check out our pricks

Spring is unquestionable peak cactus flowering season at JLBG. Although many of you are familiar with our large opuntia (prickly pear) collection, we thought we’d focus on the more diminutive barrel cactus, which you will see if you visit during our spring open house. Keep in mind that most close at night, not reopening until 10am-noon the following day. The photos below are just a tiny sample of the cacti that will be in flower.

Echinocereus adjustus
Echinocereus reichenbachii var. major Teddy Bear
Echinocereus viridiflorus
Escobaria albicolumnaria
Escobaria dasycanthus
Escobaria orcuttii
Rebutia miniscula ‘Senilis’