Arizona will be in the rear view mirror shortly after this episode of Six on Saturday posts at midnight on Saturday morning. I got a few pictures this time though. They are not too colorful only because I found the diverse cacti to be more compelling than the abundant desert bloom. Palo verde, esperanza, ocotillo, caliandra, oleander, bougainvillea, lantana and a few other flowers that I did not identify were all in bloom. A few others will bloom soon. We should be in Los Angeles by about noon, and at the View Park Garden Tour on Sunday. This is not how I planned this excursion, but it is working out rather splendidly.

1. Wile E. Coyote, of whom I posted a picture last week, may have been requesting a ride to visit his old colleague, the Road Runner, here in Arizona. I neglected to consider that.

2. Cacti are obviously popular in Arizona, likely because they perform so reliably and are so striking. This and the next two are field grown nursery stock. I can not identify them.

3. This cactus developed a rather wide colony. Many impressively big cacti get relocated. However, I doubt that this entire colony can be relocated intact. It will likely be divided.

4. This unidentified lumpy cactus seems to be quite tame. The few that I have noticed in my neighborhood grow less than three feet high. They grow almost twenty feet tall here.

5. Hesperaloe parviflora, red yucca is difficult to get a good picture of. Its grassy texture and grayish color can look shabby. Its pink bloom is nice against a clear blue sky though.

6. Carnegiea gigantea, saguaro is the State Flower of Arizona, and what tourists like me expect to see in Arizona. I pulled over outside of town to take this picture from the road.

This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate: https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

34 thoughts on “Six on Saturday: Arizona”

    1. Yes, but they are surprisingly sensitive. They must get good drainage, and be allowed to get somewhat dry between watering. Of course, not all cacti are from deserts. Epiphyllum are tropical and epiphytic cacti that appreciate more watering, but will tolerate lapses of watering. Also, they do not need such a warm direct sunlight (if the balcony is not completely sunny).

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      2. Well, other succulents are friendlier. For a confined space, where such vegetation may need to be moved about, or might be bumped into, thorns, spines and such can be be a bother.

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    1. Great shame? It is just a bird, who is nothing like the cartoon character. Some who enjoy gardening dislike deserts because of their perceived lack of vegetation. However, the vegetation that is there is very compelling. Cactus are physiologically quite weird.

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    1. It is one of the more popular perennials there. The yellow cultivar is not quite as popular. I suspect that they are very finicky about irrigation. Otherwise, they would be here also, and I have only seen them in deserts.

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  4. The first seven plants that you listed all grow here. We also have Hesperaloe parviflora. A nearby town just completed a reconstruction of the main highway through town, and to my great delight they used all native plants in their new landscaping: including the red yucca, which is abloom now and gorgeous.

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    1. Ocotillo performs well there?! I would have guessed that it is very susceptible to rot. I do not even see it in the Los Angeles region. I really should have gotten cuttings.

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  5. My father lived in Wickenberg for a while and I was struck by how. especially at dusk or dawn, the saguaro seem to be an army that has you surrounded. Love them, but they are a little creepy when they take on human form in dim light.

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    1. Wickenberg is about twice as far out as where I was in the oddly remote portion of Buckeye, norwests of Phoenix. I was amazed that I could see so far. It makes me wonder what the Santa Cruz Mountains here would look like without their obscuring vegetation. Some of the saguaros look silly, as they take weird poses. I was not there long enough to find them to be creepy, . . . although I do find Joshua trees that are closer to Los Angeles to be somewhat creepy. Some really look to be anguished.

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      1. That is true, Joshua trees can have an anguished look. For me the creepy part about the saguaros was that there were so many, so I felt surrounded and imagined them getting closer, which of course they were not, but it really felt like there was an army of them.

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  7. What a spiky, but fascinating collection of plants this week! It is great to see the cactus growing in their natural environment where they look so at home. Cactus are so often sold back here in cutesy little containers as ‘dish gardens’ for people’s offices and dorm rooms. It doesn’t do these majestic plants justice. So interesting that the same cactus species that remains small in your area grows to over 20′ in the Arizona desert. Thank you for sharing these fascinating photos! I hope you enjoy your trip and your visit, and I hope that photos of your favorite LA garden will follow soon!

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    1. Thed cacti in the nursery may not be native. I really do not know. Some cacti really do stay small, although not actually small enough for the confinement of dish gardens in dorm rooms.
      I got not pictures of the Jungalow. I arrived in the afternoon and slept until going to the Garden Tour in the morning, and then slept again before leaving at five the following morning. Actually, I got only a few pictures for the Garden Tour because I stayed at one of Brent’s landscapes, without touring.

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      1. Well, I will miss the photos of Brent’s garden. Did you take photos of his landscape at the Garden Tour? Do you read the British Garden’s Illustrated? The current issue devotes a huge section to the Chelsea Garden Show, which has initiated some major changes in recent years to track the carbon footprint of each exhibit, and to ensure that exhibits are taken to other public locations for permanent installation after the show. There are some beautiful gardens featured, but some really innovative garden tech, too. You might enjoy it if you can get hold of a copy. I read the electronic version and I would expect a hard copy version to be even better, visually. We have a native cactus here- Opuntia, which I planted at the WBG in the gravel garden/rock garden I tended, and have tried to plant here. My mother kept hers going for years, but I haven’t had as much luck with it. I guess basically I don’t like plants with sharp thorns that wound me when I get close. There is a spineless Opuntia, which is what I used in the public installation, but I think it is too wet and humid here for it to thrive. It remains rather puny and sometimes rots by late summer. They are lovely in a well-drained, open area, like on the banks of the James River.

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      2. I did not see much of Brent’s garden during the day, and took no more redundant pictures. I already got too many. Nor did I take pictures of the tour. I saw only the three landscapes that Brent had on the tour, and because I do not use pictures of landscapes for illustrations, I did not consider taking pictures. (I use close ups of flowers or foliage, but did not see much that I had not featured already.) I read no British publications because they are not as relevant to horticulture here as what is written here. I just recently wrote a post about a British article about redwoods because it is SO very inaccurate. It is . . . weird.

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      3. I love reading the British gardening magazine because they have a refreshingly different take on plants to what I hear preached here so often. And, the landscapers and gardeners use many plants that aren’t really available to us here, so I am always learning. I admire how professional the British gardeners come across- and how their work is valued by their communities. I wish we had those sorts of opportunities here for horticultural professionals. Perhaps CA is different, but I just don’t often see the same sort of educational opportunities for horticultural professionals, or job opportunities, in our area. I read wistfully….

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    1. Although impressive in the wild, and some landscapes, I do not think I would want them in a small home garden like those in the neighborhood where I was staying. The garden spaces are small because most people stay inside most of the time. A few cacti occupy significant space, and command a certain degree of ‘clearance’, which does not leave much space to move around in.

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  10. Beautiful cactus pictures. I had a thing about cactus years ago and grew a few different kinds. And loved visiting Arizona when my son was stationed there. The desert is amazing.

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