More photos from commentor Ben in NM:
Top photo: ClaretCup – these are some of the first cacti to bloom in the spring. I’m jealous of my neighbors who have large mounds all in prolific blooms.
Yucca – this is a neighbors Yucca. I’m not sure of the specific variety.
Bird of Paradise – I know this as Desert Bird of Paradise and I think it is incredibly beautiful. This one is a volunteer and grew from a seed and obviously really likes this spot. Every year I trim it back by about a quarter to keep in under control. I also only water it about twice a year. Once in the Spring before the first bloom…
When that bloom is done I trim it again around June/July and give it another shot of water and get another bloom out of it. I’ve never quite gotten a third bloom – just run out of sunlight and heat.
TexasYucca – this is also in neighbor’s yard and is a Texas or Red Yucca. I have one in my yard but it wasn’t doing very well so I moved it to a warmer spot. It seems to like it so I’m hopeful.
Octillo – this is an Ocotillo in a neighbor’s yard. I had one but it didn’t make it. Ocotillo is on the edge of our climate zone so needs a very good location. I knew I should not have bought it, but I couldn’t resist.
Prickly Pear – these are Prickly Pear which grows everywhere. In fact, the last photo is from my back alley where I dumped a bunch of trimmings and they just took root and grew!
Desert Willow – another plant that grows everywhere. The flowers can be pink, purple, or red.
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What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
War for Ukraine Day 1,241: The Reasons
sab
I am southern born and midwestern raised.
I do not like western desert landscapes at all.
I had to live in Las Vegas for years. Nice RWNJ people. Bad choices in government all around.
But in my life I have had to experience these dry gardens, and sometimes they are magical, producing a garden out of so much dryness.
Shouldn’t be possible, but here they are
ETA Happily back in the damp Midwest.
Gloria DryGarden
Jesus god, your claret cup!
I tried to have hesperaloe, the Texas yucca, but it appears to need some water8ng; apparently it rains in Texas. And I need well drained soil, but I have mostly clay. Miss hesperaloe either didn’t have enoug( sun, or nit enough water in year one to establish, so she stomped her foot and melted into the ground. Phooey. Anything t8 attract hummingbirds.
what’s your rainfall, and may I ask, how often do you water the claret cup and the Tex yucca? Isn’t that one of the repeat blooming special colors prickly pear from the cactus man?
sab
@sab: I saw many such magical gardens in Nevada. Not tended gardens. Just gorgeous plants by the roadside in the desert.
mrmoshpotato
Mmmmmm beastly.
Also beastly.
Hopefully it’s not too close to the house.
Excellent pictures in all.
Betty
The Desert Bird of Paradise is great with the combination of different colors and textures. Very nice.
JeanneT
@sab:
Sab, I understand how alien the desert plants and environment must have felt (I am Michigan born and raised). But years ago I was surprised to find Eastern prickly pear blooming up on my woods and meadow property, on a sandy south-facing hill. Even our muggy Michigan ecosystem has room for them. Nature is ever amazing!
satby
Great pictures Ben! I never knew there was a cactus Bird of Paradise and it’s quite pretty. I like prickly pear too, it grows in sandy dry areas of the Midwest; but I especially like prickly pear fruits for jelly and juice.
Scout211
Cactus flowers are so unexpected and every time they bloom it’s a treat. I particularly love the pic of the Ocotillo above. So impressive!
TerryC
Beautiful!
LAC
What a treat and so lovely. I do not know much about the different types of cacti other than the prickly pear, so I appreciate the introduction.
JAM
Thanks for the pictures, I love the flower color of the claret cups. We have had so much rain this spring and summer that my hydrangea died, so I probably couldn’t grow cactus in the ground here, though I wish I could.
BenInNM
Thanks for all the nice comments! I moved here in 2011 and have gotten more and more into cacti and other drought and sun tolerant plants
CCL
Growing up, I loved the ocotillo fences that dotted the desert landscape, I think because of their spines were used to keep animals in (or out). Part of the year they looked like a bunch of dead sticks stuck close together in the ground. But when they bloomed, oh my.
Thank you for the images, BeninNM.
BenInNM
@Gloria DryGarden: Thank you! As I mentioned, my neighbor’s claret cup just puts mine to shame. I actually wound up moving it to a sunnier spot after it had bloomed out.
I barely water the claret cup at all. I think you’re right though that the Texas Yucca needs more water. I think most of my neighbors have drip systems set up and while I had drip irrigation for mine, it wasn’t automatic so I’d always forget
BenInNM
@Gloria DryGarden: Also, rainfall is about 11” a year but we’ve been going through drought for the last few years
BenInNM
@CCL: Yeah, that’s why I was so tempted to get one although it’s a little weird to spend $100 for a couple of sticks! I love going through southern New Mexico and Arizona where they are native and see them dotting the landscape – especially after a rain when they bloom
Gvg
The flowers are beautiful, but the landscape is alien to a girl who lives in an ecosystem with a normal 65 to 80 inches of rain a year. Prickly pear cactus grow here, by the way. We have sandy soil and our higher ridges are very dry. When the seas last rose and we were islands, the areas that survived are now pretty dry habitats with a different low water lifestyle. They are mostly endangered, however they are becoming very popular as nursery propagated plants for homeowners who want to water less. Some are very showy and nice. The scrub mints are collectible. Small, smell nice, bloom long, attract pollinators including hummingbirds and butterflies.
Pioneer Floridians found a few spineless prickly pear cactus and since you can propagate an identical clone Crome one pad, it became a pass a long plant for making jelly and such. No need to brave spines. Cows eat the spiny ones but the homesteads would have some of the spineless ones near the house and garden. I think there are at least 3 different ones. It’s also known as jumping cactus because it propagates itself by drying up, falling apart to pads, then sticking by the thorns to passing animals till they get it off some distance away, where if not eaten, the traveling pad can grow. This means it grabs on to you if you get too close in our dry springs and hurts. At that stage it’s lying on the ground in the grass and not very visible.
CCL
@BenInNM: Love them, also miss the purple sage that also blooms with high humidity – and of course, the smell of creosote after the rain. Smells like desert.
sab
How do you know when to water your cacti? 50 years ago when I was young, we were told to water your cacti only when it rains in Phoenix. Seriously, that was the advice.
kalakal
Fantastic, I love desert landscapes having spent much of my youth in the Middle East. Now I live in FL which is a sauna for half the year. Cacti mostly don’t do well here but succulents love it, as do various euphorbias. You name the environment*, you’ll find a type of euphorbia that loves it, they have to be one of the most adaptable organisms on the planet
*non aquatic
BenInNM
@sab: I really almost never water them once they’re established unless they’re looking particularly stressed in the summer or maybe just before a bloom. Watering is more to make them look nice and healthy.
If anything, what’s more important is to not water them in the winter. They’ll naturally dehydrate during the winter so they can survive the freezing temperatures and look kind of pathetic but I’ve been told it can be bad for them to be watered in the winter.
I could kind of see the advice to water them when it rains. The rain might trigger them to open up and absorb water and giving them an extra shot of water might be helpful. But that’s just my speculation based on nothing.
BenInNM
@CCL: I used to live outside of Las Vegas, NV and there were a ton of creosote bushes. Agree with you on the smell being absolutely wonderful!
Torrey
Late to the party, as usual, but I really enjoy the pictures and commentary, both from Ben in NM and the other commenters. I am not, however, grateful for the fact that I now have a Gilbert and Sullivan earworm beginning with the words “Oh, the cacti that bloom in the spring, tra la!”
Citizen_X
I love the desert smell, too, but I thought that sage was responsible, not creosote.
Ocotillo is my favorite desert plant, at all times of the year. Even when bare and spiny!
BigG
We recently moved to Four Hills, a small microclimate a bit higher and cooler than most of ABQ. We have a beautiful xeriscaped yard with drip irrigation, but I don’t know what I’m doing. My piñon trees are dying off, not sure if I’m over or under watering. We have tons of red yucca, but one will be absolutely gorgeous while another that is 3 feet away will die off.Considering getting some professional help.
O. Felix Culpa
@BigG: Sadly, the piñon in general are dying in NM, I think due to the increasing heat. So it may not be your watering that’s the problem. But professional advice might be helpful.
StringOnAStick
@Gloria DryGarden: Try Redbirds in a Tree from HIgh Country Gardens, or Desert Agastache; hummingbirds love both and while you have to water them occasionally, once established they are pretty tough. What got your hespaleroe was not being in full sun more than anything, they have to bake.
StringOnAStick
@O. Felix Culpa: Pinyon are being killed by a combination of the increased heat, drought, and the Epps beetle. Or is it Ipps? Anyway, it’s decimating the western pinyons.