Some people put styrofoam cups over the tender growing tips of cactus when a freeze is predicted. But these (I'm told) stay on 24/7-365. If one blows off then it's replaced. And that Big-Gulp midway down the section on the far left isn't doing anything other than potentially strangling an entire arm.
That bag has either been there for a very long time, or was put on with a ladder assist.
All these photos were taken while on my tip-toes with my camera lifted up and over the cinder block wall that separates their properties.
As much as I would love to wander around his property that's not going to happen.
Look ma! A happy and healthy palm...
And cactus with no cups. Why is this one left to fend for itself?
According to my brother not only does this neighbor feel the need to protect the tips of his cactus but he also waters them a lot. As in more than most perennials or shrubs would even need.
And he just might be a hoarder.
He also feels the need to build structures to protect his cactus from the sun.
Yes.
Really.
There is just no understanding...
All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Wow. That is s-t-r-a-n-g-e, but then again who am I to judge?...Sometimes I'd put a heavy sweatshirt over the hanging lantern in my garden, and I didn't take it off right away. Why? Because hail was predicted, and I didn't want the lantern's glass broken. Looked very weird.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you came up with a great solution, and maybe entertained a passerby at the same time!
DeleteHmm... looks like someone really hardwired on protecting the cacti... or some of them! I did manage to fry a cactus last summer by not getting shade over it when it needed it, but still... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI visited the DBGarden one July when massive amounts of cactus had shade cloth placed over them. Poor things.
DeleteI don't even know what to say. ????
ReplyDeleteSpeechless?
DeleteI think this calls for a new society - The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Cacti!But as horrible as it is, hopefully, it is keeping him busy and not out doing worse things!
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh Laurin!
DeleteGosh, that is ... gosh, I can't think of the words. As Laurin says, I guess it could be worse. At last the person appears to be trying to protect the cactus? Or maybe not? I ... don't ... know ...
ReplyDelete'Tis confusing.
DeleteBrotha be a little cray cray.
ReplyDeleteHey, you don't know my brother!
DeleteThank God for concrete walls between neighbors. On the bright side, those cactus are well protected from mind control rays from the lizard people from outer space. I hear that styrofoam is better than tin foil because tin foil is a conductor......
ReplyDeleteWhere can one find a roll of tin foil these days? ;)
DeleteHow old am I, really?! I had no idea I call aluminum foil tin foil.......
Delete:) I must have picked it up from my parents who actually used tin foil!
Your post gave me a much-needed laugh. Heck, if Styrofoam cups protect against the cold, they surely protect against the heat? (Personally, I think the growing tips would cook in the summer but apparently that's not the case.) That ramshackle lean-to towards the end of your post is my favorite though!
ReplyDeleteI thought the lean-to looked a little like a trap, but what is he trying to catch?
DeleteThis blog entry isn't a good look. Wasn't that you a little while ago who messed up covering their agave? People do all kinds of unusual, unnecessary things trying to take good care of their gardens. This doesn't make them strange, or crazy, or worthy of derision.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've messed up covering my Agaves more than once. There was the whole Agave edema thing, there was my leaving the "fancy" pvc and shower curtain cover on too much last winter and poor air circulation causing a rotten bit...lots of mistakes happen around here and I am sure to point them out. In fact I have a whole series called "learn from my mistakes" where I regularly share the stupid things I do, so others can learn from them. And I am a little strange and even crazier.
DeleteI am sorry you feel I was deriding this fellow. And while I can kind of understand where you're coming from, that was not my intent. I was sharing the odd things he does (these coverings are on YEAR ROUND. Don't you think that's just a little odd?) and I would love to have been able to talk with him about why he does them, but sadly that wasn't a possibility.
Makes all our problem neighbors seem not that bad!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of your statement as I cleaned up needles and leaves from my front garden for the umpteenth time, since my neighbor refuses to do anything about them while they're laying on his lawn...
DeleteHuh. None of the common explanations I can think of (preventing insect damage, frost protection, concern with sunburn) can account for the seemingly haphazard approach here on a temporary, much less permanent, basis. Tim's explanation seems closest to the mark.
ReplyDeleteIn channeling some of Anon's thought process I do see someone connected to their garden, and that's always a good thing.
DeleteForget the neighbor, what's that wavy cactus with all the arms (8th pic from the top)? It's cool.
ReplyDeleteLooks to be an especially curvy specimen of Opuntia linguiformis perhaps?
DeleteWell I'll be damned. Desert peeps are unique !
ReplyDeleteOh yes...been books written about that, right?
DeleteLike my granddad used to say 'There's nowt so queer as folk'! An old Lancashire expression.
ReplyDeleteI like it.
DeleteHuh. Pretty darn bizarre. Perhaps another example of how we always hurt the ones we love?
ReplyDeleteLoving them to death?
DeleteI commented above, but I wanted to let you know that people like me who would love to comment on your blog and have a garden blog of their own on WordPress aren't able to comment except as Anonymous. It's frustrating. Here is a link to what others have said about this problem. (I just spent 30 minutes trying to see how I could fix the problem, but I can't.) https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/your-openid-credentials-could-not-be-verified?replies=7
ReplyDeleteThanks for the additional comment, and yes I agree...very frustrating, I have experienced this same issue. My work around is to use a different email than is associated with the WordPress account.
DeleteHow is it that the strangely wonderful and the wonderfully strange always seem to seek you out?
ReplyDeleteIt's a blessing and a curse! ;)
Delete