Cactus, Yucca, and Agave - 08/01/17
We bought our place 5 years ago. The exterior walls were covered with holly. It provided some thermal barrier in summer but I soon realized it was a highway for insects to get into the house. I also didn’t like the idea of roots and moisture near a home foundation.
I dug out most of the holly and began to look for thorny things that discourage intruders. On the cold side of the house that is pyrocanthia, Russian olive, raspberry, but wherever I can it is cacti, yucca, agave.
A flash flood uprooted a small cholla on our place. I replanted it under a sunny window. It was the first cactus I planted. Today I have to prune it back if I want to open the window.
I have 4 distinct species of stick cacti (cholla) in 4 distinct sizes. The native ones are the next to the largest. This one is the smallest. For my birthday my wife gave me a cholla from a local cactus expert that is the very largest – 5ft tall now and growing fast. When I ask him exactly what species that thing is he just grins at me.
A specimen from an elk hunt in the Cimarron basin.
Not much from the Mojave can survive the cold here but this one did. I have not yet removed those pads that took a beating its first winter.