Mammillaria spinosissima cv. Un Pico

There is a blog entry on this same plant from October 21, 2010. I do not want to bore anyone with the info regarding this plant. Just wanted to share the flowers that are in bloom right now. The color is an amazing purple red..........

Cactus Garden

Click on photograph to enlarge for a better view

I purchased this photograph at the Rose City Collectors Show this last weekend. Love the collection of plants in this person's yard. Quite a nice group of cactus and succulents. There is a nice size Ferocactus on the right side of the photograph. Talk about a drought tolerant yard. Found it to be interesting to share.

Mammillaria spinosissima

RED-HEADED IRISHMAN

One of first cactus before Death Valley Shack was built. Actually there are twin plants in the pot, but this is the one blooming. Nice pink blooms against the reddish-copper needles. The flowers are fashioned as a ring around the apex of the plant. The Mammillaria spinosissina comes from the Guerrero area of Mexico. Easy to grow and self fertile so it produces its own seeds. Cylindrical plants up to 8 to 12 inches in height and about 4 inches wide.

Bloomin' again

NOTOCACTUS HASELBERGII

This is the same little Scarlett Ball cactus blooming again that I posted about in December. The dried flower in the picture is from the December blooming. This is the cactus that has the seeds on it and I'm going to see if I can get them to sprout.

Black Chin Cactus

Gymnocalycium eurypleurum
This specimen is planted in a 2 1/2" pot.

Coming from a small barren, inhospitable corner of North Paraguay almost up to the border to Bolivia called Cerro Leon. Always grows solitary, it is a variable low growing species especially for spination. (Some plants have minimal spination while others seem quite heavily armed). Glossy green, dull olive-green to brownish, flattish globular (mature plants may become slightly short columnar) 2 1/2" to 6" across, with a somewhat sunken apex.
Stout, awl shaped spines are glassy white to light-brown in clusters of about 7 mostly straight up to 1/2" to 1 1/2" in length, very symmetrical, and tending to curve upwards, away from the body of the cactus. No obvious central spine. The 1 or 2 central spines when they exist are the same length.
Flowers are mostly near the apex, bell-shaped, pure white or white with a hint of lilac, about 1 1/2" in length and diameter. Inner petals are white to light pink, outer petals are a light purple color with a dark purple center strip. Filaments and style are white and flowers freely throughout the Summer. As with most Gymnocalycium, it is a summer grower species that offers no cultivation difficulties.

Thelocactus hexaedrophorus

"Hexaedrophorus" comes from the Greek
"hexa" = six and "hedra" =plane, seat
and "phoros" = carrying, for the six angled tubercles.

A solitary and quite variable cactus with flattened stems from San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Zacatecas areas of Mexico. Many local forms are known, often formally described, that differ in stem, spine or flower morphology. Because of the large variability of the species in the whole distribution area, none of these are recognized today. Depressed or globose, bluish , olive-green, or greyish-green eventually tinged in pink or purple, 2-5" tall , 8" in diameter (eventually grows a little taller in cultivation). Spines are usually strong and variable in length depending on the plant often difficult to distinguish as centrals and radials. Flowers are silvery-white or rarely pinkish with more or less magenta midribs, up to 10 in diameter. Easy to cultivate but very slow growing. The plant in the collection is planted in a 4" pot.

Astrophytum asterias

Sea Urchin or Sand Dollar Cactus
These four plants are in a 4" pot.

The Astrophytum asterias is a popular spineless cactus. Solitary globular cactus, up to 6 inches in diameter and 6 to 8 ribs. In the wild area of Northeastern Mexico (Nuevo León, Tamaulipas) and southern Texas it is almost extinct, mostly due to habitat destruction. It decreases in size in the wild when lacking water and might be covered with dust during the dry season. The rain makes it swell and washes it, making it ready to enjoy the sunlight. Little water, subject to root rot, keep very dry in winter. Seeds germinate rapidly and some cultivars are grafted for faster growth. Can take up to 6 years to bloom in summer at irregular intervals. The 2 inch wide flowers are yellow with a red center, and sweet scented. They are followed by spineless greyish-red fruits. Plants generally start blooming when they exceed one inch in diameter.

'Super Kabuto' is a Japanese cultivar with extremely abundant flecking. The white flecking is very variable from clone to clone. Be sure to click on the link and take a look at some of these beautiful plants that are being created. You will want to add a couple to your collection, but be careful they are very expensive.