Three Golden Barrel cactus, Echinocereus grusonii, and three Old man of the Andes, Oreocereus trollii. Sometimes when you buy small cactus there is no identification other that 'cactus'. These were identified but their main identification was 'cactus strawflower'. Maybe you can guess what that meant. Each one of these plants had had a strawflower hot glued to the top. All that remained was a withered flower and a goop of glue. If people weren't buying them when the strawflower was looking good, no-one was going to buy them now. Enter, ME. I had to perform painful surgery when I got home. Painful for the two us as I removed the final hardened glue with a pair of tweezers receiving a few stabs for my troubles.
Unfortunately some slight damage and loss of spines to one of the areoles. You may notice that these young barrels look quite different from the older ones. It will be some time before they take on the more ribbed effect.
Now they are all cleaned up and I hunted to find pots for them. I potted the Old Man of the Andes in a single pot and individual pots for the barrel cactus.
Now find a suitable place for them.
I am afraid the cactus are unable to speak for themselves, so on their behalf I thank you for your trouble, and apologize for the pain.
ReplyDeleteI think those cactus will thrive now---it feels good to "rescue" them, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteSorry you got stabbed. They are difficult to work with.
Like dyed succulents, gluing strawflowers to cactus strikes me as a silly sales technique. I still shy away from the really prickly cactus like these but I admire their beauty in their natural state and I'm glad you rescued them.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand why on earth would want to glue fake flowers to a cactus !!!!!! or paint succulents in ughly colours !!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder who buys them? Someone who thinks that is their real color?
DeleteThe clearance tables here never have anything so good as these -- I love baby cactus! I've been good at reducing the pot count this past year, but I foresee another bump up in the count soon... that's how it always goes!
ReplyDeleteHa, those clearance tables are dangerous! That is so funny that they actually glued flowers to cactus. Really?! But you got a great deal!
ReplyDeleteA good catch in all those plants. Now to see where they end up!
ReplyDeleteIn pots. I don't trust our winters.
DeleteI've bought a lot of decent stuff from the clearance table at our local Lowe's. But rarely has it been a good as your finds :-).
ReplyDeleteYes. That really was a case of being in the right place at the right time. I must look out for plastic flower time next year.
DeleteWhat a deal - I'm glad you rescued them. I've been caring for cacti & succulents this last year when the Master Gardener who nurtured them died last spring. They mostly survived my ignorance as I repotted root bound ones and readied them for our plant sale this last Friday and Saturday. They went flying out the door, some of them taking little pieces of my heart with them, but I kept reminding myself that the primary purpose was finding them a good home, other than mine. So reading about your rescue really gladdened my heart this morning.
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