Around the ranch...

I have several fairly large stands of cactus on my ranch. Standard stuff really, I'm not much of a collector. More of an agave or aloe buff. Natives and epiphytes.

I have several different columnar things going, a huge stand in the back of the ranch of the San Pedro type which I will snap a shot of one day.

And this one, which you have seen before.

The Jubea chilensis palm behind it is really doing well, Todd recently pruned it for the first time.

The Chilean native, which can grow in the snow, has the widest palm trunk in the world.

I hope I live long enough to see it in its glory. 

There is one growing on the street on Leucadia blvd. that is massive and worth a fortune.

Todd trimmed the echium up and now there is more room for other things to catch sun.

We rediscovered a beautiful blue cactus that I will have to take a picture of.

Anyway, I wanted to show you my opuntia cactus.

I have two different strains, one of which I planted but the prickly pears are of an entirely different color.

I call the one with the deep red pears my mickey mouse.

The pads of the one above one get really big and rounded.

I am not sure what the real name of the cultivar is, there is one called Mickey Mouse that looks nothing like it.

The weight of the pads or nopales gets so great that the thing has a hard time staying upright.

Its growth is a series of intermittent crashes, sort of like my own history.

The pears are called tuna.

The great horticulturalist Luther Burbank made the study of the opuntia his life's work. He felt that it provided more nutrition per acre than any other food source in the world. He hybridized over 60 spineless varieties.

Luther and his cactus

This one of mine has a yellow fruit. Two species of dasilyrion next to it, wheeleri and longissimum.

My expensive Australian grass tree has expired. Couldn't take our harsh climate I imagine. I replaced it with a native yucca that I bought at grangetto, hopefully it will have better luck.

The princeps cycad I got from Doug when he moved is very happy.

It has a beautiful blue color.

My Sea Squill keep surprising me, think it's dead and it pops back up.

All for now...