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Post by traveler63 on Aug 8, 2009 2:06:11 GMT
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Post by spindrift on Aug 8, 2009 9:19:40 GMT
T63 - thanks....wonderful. I've only viewed the first two pics as I must now hurry out to the Mela. I'll check the rest later.
The sky is such a beautiful shade of blue and the cactus look stunning against it. I love the pencil cactus.
Is it very hot all the year round?
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Post by imec on Aug 8, 2009 13:01:52 GMT
Very nice T63! That Jumping Cholla bloom is beautiful - but it sounds like a nasty beast...
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Post by traveler63 on Aug 8, 2009 14:52:58 GMT
Spindrift,
In the summertime, which starts about April, May it will start to warm up and be somewhere in the 80 -90 degrees. June starts the upper 90s but the eveings will still be in the 60's . July, August, and into September will be in the 100's, nights in the high 70s to 80s. Right now it is 7:45 am and it is 79 degrees. Starting in mid September it will start to cool down and we will have 80s and 90s. From then on it will moderate and it will be mid 70's to mid 80s. November, December etc, it will be low 70s and nights will go into mid 50's. We do have some cold nights in January and they can approach low 20s upper 30's with days in the mid 60's. This is all if it is a regular year. However, we are seeing a change and the heat has been coming earlier and lasting longer. We have been here 22 years, this time. One year we had over a 100 days of over 100 degrees and that was miserable, the average with 108 degrees with several days above 110. I think the hottest was 117 or 118 and Phoenix was 120 and that shut down the airport. Kirk and I have been thinking about leaving and going somewhere a little cooler, but then we get into late fall and early winter and it is so nice we change out mind.
Thanks Imec for the kind words.
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Post by Jazz on Aug 9, 2009 2:41:38 GMT
These are great, trav63....The world of cacti is very foreign to me. I like 'Saguaro behind a tree', but have no sense of how tall it is. In your photo it looks like a tree!
The ones in bloom are beautiful!
I almost fainted just reading your description of your weather. I could not live in that heat. Here in Toronto tonight we are at the opposite end of the spectrum....August 8th and it will be going down to 5(C), or 40F! unusual , even for Toronto....Your July/Aug/Sept will be in the 100's!!!
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Post by traveler63 on Aug 9, 2009 22:51:52 GMT
Jazz, Saguaros are very interesting cacti. They can grow to be anywhere from 15 to 50 feet. They can be 18"-24" inches in diameter. They can be very old, 200 years. The average is about 5 arms and 30 feet tall. It is totally protected by the State of Arizona and you can get into be trouble if you deface, kill or harm one in any way. They actually have a very shallow root system and have a tap root that is only about 3 feet in length. More radial roots go out from the base and wrap around other objects, rocks about the same distance as the height of the saguaro. They grow very slow, about 1 inch per year. Some will very rarely grow crested instead of the arms. These are very rare and when there is one, no one will tell you where they are, because they are highly valued and can sell for thousands of dollars on the black cactus market.  |
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 9, 2009 23:18:19 GMT
Oh!!!
I never knew that saguaros would grown into crested shape. That is sooo beautiful. I can see how it would bring out larcenous tendencies.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 5:26:39 GMT
My first view of cacti was when my mother drove from Mississippi to California with my brother and me, when we were moving. (My father had gone ahead to start the new job and find a house several months earlier.) All we saw of the desert was what could be seen from Interstate 10, but we were fascinated.
I have been attracted to the desert ever since, although I doubt if I could live in such a place.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 12, 2009 5:44:16 GMT
Oops. That triggered a long-forgotten memory. Over thirty years ago we collected some cactus in Quartz Mountain State Park (Okla.) They were in a cardboard box in the back of my mother's car. Getting back in the car later, we found that the back seat was full of invisible spines.
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Post by hwinpp on Aug 12, 2009 10:15:56 GMT
There's a cactus on my wall that seems to belong to nobody. It's gone completely wild and looks like it has cancerous growths.
Aren't cacti (?) a bit boring as plants? Nothing ever happens to them, they don't really change, do they?
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 12, 2009 12:56:22 GMT
There's a cactus on my wall that seems to belong to nobody. It's gone completely wild and looks like it has cancerous growths. Aren't cacti (?) a bit boring as plants? Nothing ever happens to them, they don't really change, do they? Cactus are funny in that most people start growing them without knowing what they have. You see one you like, then start accumulating them. It's been my experience that they're sold here and there with little or no identification. Usually people who become intrigued by cactus wind up with an entire succulent collection because the whole family is so intriguing. Not only do they grow and change, but they always surprise you with different subtle aspects -- seeming to have new outgrowths overnight, or the spines taking on a colorful glow when hit just right by the sun. Once you're hooked on them (ahem), you want to know more about them, so they generally turn into quite a hobby. I've posted photos of mine in bloom in the Putting Down Roots section. It's become my own private joke, as no one ever responds. Which reminds me, I have pictures on my camera right now of one that's currently blooming.  Do you have a picture of the one on your wall? I'd love to see it. |
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Post by traveler63 on Aug 12, 2009 15:05:46 GMT
Actually they are quite beautiful and there are some that are used in food, also some of the blooms after they die produce pods that are used to make jelly, and jams.
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Post by hwinpp on Aug 20, 2009 8:07:36 GMT
I'll take a pic soon. And post it here.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2009 19:36:19 GMT
Cacti do intrigue me for their lack of vegetal activity. Nothing happens for years and years and all of a sudden there is a flower or some other surprise.
I think they appeal to those of us with a black thumb, because it takes a long time to kill them.
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