This was the size of the desert plants in front of the house in February 2010.
I did not find a picture of the front of the house in 2011.
I guess I should take a photo of the area either in the
beginning or end of our winter stay for comparisons.
This photo is also from February 2010. It does show the size of
all three cacti. The photo was taken from a different angle
because of the time of day. (Some of the decor has been moved or tossed.)
This is a photo of the fire stick when we arrived in November 2010.
The plant had grown a lot over the summer and did throughout
our time here last year. When I trimmed the plant the result was
just a little bigger than this.
This is what greeted us on Thursday.
The fire stick (the HUGE plant in the center) that does not get red or
orange was trimmed last spring. I planted a branch and gave several
branches away to anyone who was willing to take them.
Someone at one of the nurseries suggested I trim it as that might help
bring about the appropriate 'blooming' color. I don't know about what
color might appear, but the pencil cactus (fire stick) doubled in size
over the summer. We might have to move our name sign!
The planted fire stick branch (in the center of the photo)
also survived the summer and doubled in size. It made it through
the heat and the Javalinas.
This curly ribbon-like cactus was a piece that had fallen off
the parent plant from the front of the house when the Javalinas
lunched during the summer of 2009. We were told to dig a hole
and put the 'ear' in the ground. It will grow and it did. This was planted
on the east side of the house away from the path used by the
roving giant rodents. I faithfully water it during the winter. This is how it
looked on Thursday.
Notice how many more ears it has?
I can't imagine how big it might have been before those d***
Javalinas gnawed on it this summer! All those white tips are missing
parts of MY cacti! The good news is the animal meals don't hurt the plant;
it will survive. I am just bummed they found it. I thought it was safe
located against the east side of the house.
This is the parent plant. It was not on the menu for the Javalinas
this summer. Nor can you tell where the smelly critters ate the plant
the two summers they bothered it. It is just lopsided as the ears attached
on the left of the stem are completely gone and have not grown back since.
I have a theory about the bothersome four-legged critters. They have poor
eyesight. I think the huge agave plant in the fifth picture has 'blocked' their
path through our yard. Between the large plant and the utility boxes the
animals now walk around that area to the east. That is how they found
the other young curly ribbon eared cactus.
Only my theory and my name for the unusual member of the prickly pear cactus.
