Two Up, Sunny Side!
True to promise, I repurposed two of the five the unfinished “bathtub trough” pits left along the fence by the previous owners to make these cactus garden beds and give my potted specimens a permanent home. These cacti are spaced out in anticipation of how they’ll grow. Edible bilberry (blue-green trio in back of photo) grows bushy and huge while the large columnar Echinopsis nearby should continue to grow above the expanding bilberry, like a skyscraper above clouds. The golden barrel in the second bed could reach 3 feet across, leaving just enough room for the addition of an Arizona fishhook barrel at some point.
I spent part of today transferring a second batch of 100 tiny native aboriginal prickly apple into a cell tray. The first batch planted in late 2018 shown here has some at over 12 inches and growing like crazy. A third batch of 1000 from Germany (with a proper field collection number) is a month or two from “decanting” and planting.
I’d been wondering when my three Kwango giant cycads would finally send up second leaves. Last week’s heavy rain brought them forth.
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.
Cactus Island Nursery