Look at the texture and patterns of this magnificent green Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert. The beautiful white Saguaro flower is opening. Bats love the nectar of this flower and it is great to watch them come to it. I am anxious to one day capture a photo of a bat drinking nectar from the saguaro flower.
Remember from my earlier cactus posts, each of these cactus arms and ribs are very, very heavy.
When the cactus dies, the Saguaro ribs are great to use for other items. I like to be around natural woods, stones, etc.
I have saguaro ribs used in my bedroom furniture and it is gorgeous and makes me feel at home. I am an Arizona desert rat after all.
11 comments:
wow I didn't know that it could be used like furniture or decoration!Cool and interesting post!
Have a nice weekend dear Julie!
God bless you
Léia
Always informative. Will have to plan a trip to the desert soon. Feel like I am missing out.
Is there any detectable scent to the flower? If you want to get a shot of a bat sipping nectar, Julie, I believe you will get that shot. I think it will require some of your great night photography skills though.
Beautiful! I would love to see a picture of the bats!
I think you will have to wait until the saguaro cacti in the back yard bloom before being able to get a photo of a bat drinking nectar from a saguaro flower at night, and even then it would be very difficult. Waiting around for a bat in the desert would be too much time for too low a probability of success.
I'm sure this is a dumb question, but when using it as furniture, how do that get the stickers out?
(Resisting the urge to say this sounds like a thorny problem.)
Memphis MoJo,
Here is the answer to your question about the use of Saguaros for furniture.
The thorns are attached to the skin of the saguaro. The skin holds in several inches of fleshy, moist tissue. Inside the trunk is a round ring of wooden ribs, with each rib being about one inch in diameter, and the ring of ribs being about a foot in diameter.
The only part of the plant that is usable for furniture (or for shade coverings) are the ribs. There are no thorns there.
The ribs have to be collected from tried out dead saguaros. You would never cut a saguaro to use its ribs. The plant is much more valuable alive.
In Arizona there is a problem with "Saguaro rustlers" who dig up saguaros in the desert and sell them to nurseries who sell them to people, resorts, golf courses, etc.
By the way, if you hit a saguaro with a golf ball that is on a drive, at times the ball can become embedded into the fleshy wet tissue and the plant just oozes syrupy liquid from its wound. I have never done that, but I have seen it happen.
Saguaros retain so much moisture that they weigh about 100 pounds per foot of height!!
...so you found out, what makes me stay awake during the night?!
Interesting to read how much life can be at your place, during the day and night. Please have a nice weekend.
I hope you do catch the bats one of these days. I suppose that's going to take another nighttime stake-out. As far as the furniture with the cactus, maybe you could share a photo of that too one of these days.
Have a great weekend!
Thanks for the info. They sound like amazing plants. Very amazing.
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