Topic: Cacti flowers

[Emm P]

Hope I have put this in the right place!!!!
Three of my cacti are in flower.
I think cacti get the most amazing of almost any type of flower.
Has anyone else got any cacti flower photos to show?

[bunnycat]

My Dad has been breeding and showing cacti and succulents for over 35 years :)

He has a 40 foot greenhouse that takes up about half of my parents' back garden, and he spends hours in there :D It crammed with cacti and succulents of all kinds - there are thousands of them :o
I love cacti (no suprise there ::)), and I used to take photos of my Dad's ones as they flowered.
I've still got some of the photos somewhere, but I'd have to find them and scan them before I could post them :-\ I did give a lot of them to my Dad to put into his albums that he keeps to record his successes, but I've got some duplicates :)
I'd be happy to find them and scan them if you'd like to see them, but it might take a little while.

[Roy Bham UK]

They are little beauts ;) could we have a close up please? I bet the detail is awesome ;D

Bunnycat, yes go scan please ;) ;D

[bunnycat]

I'll try to get onto it this week ;D

Do you have many cacti, Emm? Those ones are lovely :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I had a greenhouse full at one time as well. Keep them in a cold greenhouse, water them well in summer, but keep them dry in winter, and repot them annually. They'll grow and flower like mad.

[bunnycat]

I used to look after all my Dad's cacti and succulents when my parents went on holiday, and it was a job and a half :o

Some had to have a certain amount of water, some just water as normal, others no water at all, still others only at certain times of the day or with the water at a certain temperature................ :-\
Mind you, these were show plants and babies and all sorts. I didn't dare get a single instruction wrong - he would have gone mad if a prize specimen had died or not looked it's best when he got back :o

I did enjoy it though, believe it or not ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

Don't worry about that, just water when it's warm, water cautiously when cool, and not at all when cold. If a plant's particularly delicate, put some extra gravel in the compost.

[Marley Farley]

 :) I know this isn't probably the right place to put these pics but they kind of fit in here  :) I took them last hols at botanical gardens. The central cacti are getting on for 6' I had never seen them this big in the flesh so to speak before  ;D Have got a liking for them now am just starting to collect  ;D

  ;D   ;D

[Gardengirl]

Here are a few of my flowering cacti

[Marley Farley]

 ;D ;D Oh!!!!  GG they are absolutely wonderful  ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Twospot Ladybird]

Hi Emm and Bunnycat, did you see the Cacti on my thread in the Gallery (My visit to Gardening Scotland). Got a couple more Cacti piccies from there too  :D

[Emm P]

What beautiful flowers Gardengirl.
The sad thing is that they don't last very long.
I haven't seen cacti as big as those outdoors in this country Marley - only under glass.
Was the Botanical Gardens abroad?

It is a wonder mine survive, they are in our conservatory which is south facing, with temperatures over 100f in the summer.

A neighbour of ours belongs to the local Cacti Society, and I got my plants from him. I only have 15 and 2 succulents.
These are two of my favourites - they don't flower though.

[bunnycat]

I haven't seen your cacti pictures, Twospot, but I'll have a look now I know about them ;D

I love those huge ones, Marley. My Dad has a few that are that big. Two of them stand sentry at either side of the greenhouse doors (on the inside).

Those cacti are beautiful, Gardengirl :o

I'm a big fan of Agaves and Aloes, and have several of those. I don't have as many cacti as I'd like, because I just don't have the room :(

[Roy Bham UK]

 :o You certainly know how to raise cacti GG :o ;D those are really pretty ;) ;D

[Marley Farley]

 :) Sorry, yes the botanical gardens are at Fort Bragg California  :) It was a lovely day  :) It was strange to see allot of plants we have here that are small, & there they were outside & so big  :o but those cati were something else  ;D They have the right climate there though ;D