Saturday, May 9, 2009

Mexican Fence Posts

This is a photo from my backyard and shows Mexican Fence Post cactus and golden barrel cactus. I like the angle because it shows how tall Mexican Fence Post cactus can grow and also shows how close you can plant cactus.  

You can see the two new Mexican Fence Post cactus pups growing from the base of the older and established cactus.  

I am very excited to see pups growing as this is the first time I have actually had Mexican Fence Post pups.  We had several hard freezes in a short time two years ago and it harmed many cacti in our area. One of the consequences though is that many cacti started producing pups in order to ensure survival of the cactus through offshoots.  

When cacti are damaged from a frost, it does not necessarily die right away.  To save itself, it can throw out pups and flowers for seeds.  In the photo you can see the black spots on the ground and those are the flowers from the Mexican Fence Post that fall to the ground and hopefully grow new pups.  I will show you the weird looking flower from this cactus tomorrow.  

9 comments:

brattcat said...

Excellent botany lesson, Julie. And a fascinating perspective.

Sharon said...

Great angle on this shot and I love how you can really see how "golden" barrel cactus got it's name. Those are really glowing.

Lois said...

I like the angle on this shot too. Thanks for explaining about the "pups". I've never heard that term before!

cieldequimper said...

Interesting. And the angle is fantastic.

gogouci said...

Nice angle. Interesting read too.

robert said...

Natures own fences, allowing us to find a home within - sometimes it pricks, but always beautiful to see, from both:inside and outside.

Lowell said...

Lovely post; great colors.

Unknown said...

I suddenly realized how little I know about botany:-) A very good post and such an unusual angle for your photo, it works the way you intended.

henny said...

The ball-shaped cactus looks so inviting for me to touch it.

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