In addition to about 15 small cacti we brought from the California home, these two fairly large (and heavy) barrel cacti made the trip (almost*) without incident. The one on the left is a Golden Barrel cactus and on the right is a Devil’s Tongue cactus.
Most of the cacti we brought will go into the ground around the outside of the courtyard since we don’t want to have any cacti with needles and sharp spines inside where the dogs will be allowed to be loose. We have chosen no-thorn shrubs and flowering bushes for that area.
* Unloading the Golden Barrel, Bob scratched the sh*t out of his left inside forearm on its sharp needles. There was no real damage though and no spines were embedded beneath his skin, thank goodness – they can be hard to get out and easily become infected.
We will be putting both of these in the ground which is long overdue for them since they are becoming rootbound in their pots. Our cactus and succulent garden is going to be coming along nicely.
Please keep us posted.
I’ll bet those lil’ guys will just LOVE being in the ground in AZ!
Oh Yeah! They prolly came from here. Or climate close to it
Well, the Golden Barrel (Echinocactus grusonii) comes from central Mexico, and that area is more humid, and not as hot as Wickenburg. Some shade might be in order for that one. The Devil’s tongue (Ferocactus latispinus) might also benefit from some shade, though it is more adapted to the desert. But the cactus pictured looks like it might be Ferocactus wislizenii, the Arizona Fishhook Cactus. What color is its flowers?
I think the Golden Barrel will be fine. There is a small amount of shade from some surrounding creosote. We see the Golden Barrel around town and they all seem to be doing OK.
I’m sure it’s a Devils Tongue. The flowers on this one are yellow but we have another with pink flowers.
Okay, the Arizona Fishhook Barrel has orange flowers, so I defer to your expertise there. And I didn’t know that the Golden Barrel does well there; that’s good to know. The cities here in the Coachella Valley plant them in full sun, and sometimes they scorch. Mine are shaded by Paloverde trees, and seem to look much better for it.
We had a house in Palm Desert for a while and loved the desert flora and fauna. That was a major factor in deciding to retire in Arizona for the desert climate. Damsel is counting the days until the spring cactus flowers open.