Thursday, May 7, 2009
The display has been building, but it is about to peak; the cacti are in bloom. May and June are the months to look forward to, and serious cactophiles know that the floral reward is well worth the sticks and scratches that go along with growing these mostly spiny plants. Suddenly, the most unremarkable looking mounds of spines are sprouting the most amazing flowers in fantastic shades. While all cacti bloom, some have small or somewhat drab flowers, while others sport large blooms with many narrow petals that open wide to invite in their insect pollinators. Here are a few of the more common ones. If you don't currently grow them yourself, visit one of your area gardens to see the native California species up the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden or the more exotic ones at Lotusland.
Some of the most floriferous cacti occur in the genus Echinopsis. This is even easier to generalize now that the taxonomists have lumped a lot of other archaic genera into this polyglot designation (to the chagrin of many growers, to be sure). Many of them grow in clumps of multiple stems of varying dimensions, ranging from tiny, finger-sized ones that only grow a few inches in length but support flowers all out of proportion to their diminutive size to others that are stately single stems one to several feet in height (that's not counting all the ones that used to be in the genus of giants, Trichocereus) with even bigger flowers, up to 10 inches in length and four inches wide. Some are simply and purely white, while electric shades of pink, red, and yellow also occur. Of course, horticulturists have not left nature to her own devices, and many even more intense colors and ever bigger flowers have been created through hybridization.
For some of the showiest and most hybridized cactus flowers, the group known collectively as “epiphyllums” can't be beat. There is a genus of cacti named Epiphyllum, but many of the precursors of these showstoppers known as orchid cactus may belong to any of about four different genera and numberless species and other hybrids. Most, if not all, of the parents are epiphytic cacti that normally live clinging to the trunks and branches of trees or rocks in wet forests in South America. Gardeners typically display them in hanging baskets where their flattened, succulent stems can hang down to show off the amazing flowers. Lots of bright petals form a tube and then flare out up to 10 inches in diameter. They come in purest white, pale pink, and yellow to electric shades of magenta, red, and orange. There are some that shimmer between two colors, such rose-red and deep lavender. Unlike their relatives from the deserts, they require organic-rich soil and regular irrigation.
Opuntia is perhaps the most recognizable genus of cactus to many people. Many of the species in this large group grow into the familiar beaver-tail or bunny-ear shape. These cactus pads are, of course, just flattened stems, but they grow in a number of interesting sizes and forms from perfectly orbicular to elongated tongue-shaped ones. Along their edges, they also bloom with colorful flowers that, although they don't have as many petals, are still lovely. Typically yellow, orange, or reddish, the flowers are nice, but some of the species, such as O. robusta, form quite large reddish purple fruits. You may not be tempted to eat them, although they are edible (watch out for the few spines on the surface!), but they make a great show in late summer and attract birds to peck out their sweet flesh. These fruits give this genus one of its other common names of prickly pear. Besides the very obvious needle-like spines, many of these species also grow spines as fine as baby hair called glochids. Even a very light brush against them will leave dozens of these embedded in your skin. Their ends are microscopically hooked and their fine texture makes them instantly irritating and difficult to remove. Here's a trick that can help: Paint or pour on thick glue, such as wood glue, let it dry and then peel it off. Most of the glochids will come along.
This is just a sampler of the many species of cacti, of course. But hopefully it will serve as a reminder that even the spiniest of plants have their fling in spring and inspire you to experiment with something new.
Virginia Hayes, curator of Ganna Walska Lotusland, will answer your gardening questions. Address them to Gardens, The Independent, 122 W. Figueroa St., S.B., CA 93101. Send email to vahayes@lotusland.org.