Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Wednesday Vignette, cactus times two

Last week's Vignette featured an Opuntia against a many-tone wooden fence. This week we're at the Desert Botanical Garden admiring this fabulous cactus...

With its woody base.

See, woody!

Ever the opportunist however, an Opuntia has moved in.

Wednesday Vignette...Cactus times two!

Weather Diary, March 28: Hi 59, Low 46/ Precip .03"

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2017 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

19 comments:

  1. That's a fascinating look at the inside of an old woody cactus. I had no idea they resembled regular trees so much. But I see now how those pieces of dried cholla get to look the way they do.

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    1. Isn't it rather amazing? I'm glad you enjoyed.

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  2. I agree with Allison. I have not had that many opportunities to see big old specimens like this. Despite their size, I never thought there would be any resemblance to a tree!

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    1. My brother once sent Andrew some cactus "wood" thinking maybe he could use it for carving his figures. He couldn't (I can't remember why) but it was fascinating.

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  3. Gnarly! How on earth did the Opuntia move in? Is it an aggressive desert plant? It sounds like an odd concept even as I write it.

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    1. Ha! Haven't heard that word in awhile, but it is! Opuntia will grow just about anywhere. Since this isn't the wild, but rather a botanic garden, I wonder if someone didn't place it there?

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  4. Kind of like ferns growing on trees here in the wetlands? Awesome big cactus!

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    1. Kind of exactly! Great comparison Peter.

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  5. That's amazing. I didn't know Opuntia could manage something like that.

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  6. Wow. I've never seen a desert cactus growing as an epiphyte, especially on another cactus! That poor big cactus, though. Imagine having opuntia growing from your armpits.

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    1. You could never put your arms down because of the pain!

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  7. That's a fantastic cactus - and yes, it totally looks like a tree. What Evan said - I had no idea Opuntias would do that.... So wonderful and weird!

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    1. Back before we had the moss removed from our roof I kind of wanted to tuck a couple of opuntia pads up there. Of course Andrew would have had a fit.

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  8. Another title could have been: the cactus odd couple.

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  9. That's a whole string of impressive vignettes.

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