It’s Always Cactember at Cactus Island.
Especially at blossoming and wooly growth times. A 6am seniors-only grocery store run last week surprised us with the tail end of open flowers on these night blooming Cereus Peruvianus/Hildemannianus as we walked over to the Jeep to leave. Made our morning and the rest of the day. The Pilosocereus aff flexibilispinus “Sitio Grande, Bahia” are getting taller and darker blue-green smoky skin, and the similar P. Piauhyensis are trading out lime green skin for dark green-blue complimented by yellow needles as they hit a growth spurt finally. A 6’x6′ square of extra shade cloth is aiding the Harrisia Aboriginum in growing healthier, taller and darker green as would be in their understory scrub habitat. Here also are some wooly portraits of the growing tips on our vigorously growing seed stock Pilos.
jvfreeman
James V. Freeman is an established visual artist (oil painting) with a deep interest in natural history, plants and farming. He has had numerous solo shows, a solo museum show, an upcoming museum show and his work has been featured in many publications to date. He currently has a studio in Williston, Fl at the family farm and homestead, "Cactus Island", and as a farmer, specializes in growing columnar cacti of the Caribbean and Gulf countries as well as the aquatic Madegascar Lace Plant. James and his mom Sharon manage and develop the permaculture homestead.
4 Comments
Linda Bergman
The cacti are all doing great! You have a green thumb like your mom!
James V Freeman
Thanks! Green thumb also has a few spines I couldn’t get out with tweezers.
Catherine M Nagel
I just love these BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS & look at all those amazing rows of cacti…what a project/garden you can be so proud of!!
Keep up the fantastic work
love to see your progress!
James V Freeman
Thanks! There’s a lot of love, risk and potential reward in those cactus rows. Spiders and mantids are working it in there, keeping pests to a minimum.