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Pastel Tortie

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A while back I posted about adding some dirt to a new cactus bed and getting a lot of tomato and squash volunteers. Well, it looks like the squash isn't squash, but rather some sort of wild gourd or melon. The flower is very small, not a large squash flower. I've been adding the leaves to my babies' food mixture so I hope it's not toxic.
@Yvonne G Do you know where the dirt (with the mystery seeds in it) came from? Do you have any pictures of the hours / melon vine? I'm wondering if you wound up with an invasive plant, perhaps.
 

Pastel Tortie

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I've been worried that so much rain this year might make my cacti rot. So far, so good.

The first three pictures, then the fourth is the group photo, are my favorite flowers (can't say the same for the plant itself. It's AWFUL!!!!):

View attachment 272868 View attachment 272869 View attachment 272870 View attachment 272871

This is a type of opuntia:
View attachment 272872

This is my saguaro. I got it as a tiny baby and nursed it until it was big enough to plant in the dirt. It's about 25 years old and a little over 5' tall:
View attachment 272873

This one is the prettiest color. When the sun is shining it blooms bright red, but we've had overcast for the past couple weeks:
View attachment 272874

This is the spineless opuntia with the organ pipe in the back:
View attachment 272875

I'm always confused if this one is an aloe or an agave. At any rate, it's right in the middle of my proposed new driveway:
View attachment 272876

This one came from @Turtulas-Len . It's only a year and a half old and was started from one little pad:
View attachment 272877
Yvonne, your cacti and succulents are gorgeous! Making me drool again... :p
 

Yvonne G

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@Yvonne G are you going to be able to move the plants in the new driveways path to another place on your property ? I enjoy seeing pics of you plants, things that wont survive here that I would love to watch grow.
Yes. It will be the City's responsibility to move them. I have in mind that I want one on each side of the entrance to the driveway. The agave had two heads and one broke off a while ago, so I have a pair to do that.
 
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Yvonne G

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@Yvonne G Do you know where the dirt (with the mystery seeds in it) came from? Do you have any pictures of the hours / melon vine? I'm wondering if you wound up with an invasive plant, perhaps.
We do have a wild melon that is sour and not edible, but I don't know if that's what this is. I don't remember where the pile of dirt originally came from, but I put it there (old age memory).
 

Yvonne G

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@Yvonne G Do you know where the dirt (with the mystery seeds in it) came from? Do you have any pictures of the hours / melon vine? I'm wondering if you wound up with an invasive plant, perhaps.
Here's a picture of the vine. The tomato plants have really taken over the planter, so it's hard to see the squash (?) vine, and the second picture is the tiny flower it puts out - much too small to be a squash of any kind:
squash and tomato a.jpg squash and tomatoe b.jpg

It hasn't set any fruit yet, so I still have no idea what it is.
 

Len B

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Yes. It will be the City's responsibility to move them. I have in mind that I want one on each side of the entrance to the driveway. The agave had two heads and one broke off a while ago, so I have a pair to do that.
That's good. Any idea on how long they will be out of the ground before they will be replanted. Hopefully they will get enough soil when dug so as not to disturb the roots to much.
 

Yvonne G

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That's good. Any idea on how long they will be out of the ground before they will be replanted. Hopefully they will get enough soil when dug so as not to disturb the roots to much.
The large aloe will have to be dug by a tree-mover, and in that case, the receiving hole will have to be ready and waiting. All of the smaller ones that are in the way I'm going to ask to have them just set aside and I'll replant them later when it's not rushed and I have a chance to think about it. Cacti are very forgiving. You can practically leave them laying on top of the ground and they'll sprout roots.

The city is still in the money-offering phase of the project. I have received my preview contract and I've made my changes and sent it back. Construction is scheduled to start spring next year, but it's taking SO long taking care of each phase, that I'll bet it won't start that soon.
 

Pastel Tortie

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Here's a picture of the vine. The tomato plants have really taken over the planter, so it's hard to see the squash (?) vine, and the second picture is the tiny flower it puts out - much too small to be a squash of any kind:
View attachment 272952 View attachment 272953

It hasn't set any fruit yet, so I still have no idea what it is.
I don't know what it is, either.
 

Len B

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Most opuntia produce blooms on the edge of the pads like the first pic.fullofbloomsPicture 009 copy.jpgI have this one group that throw out blooms from anywhere on the pad like this second picfullbloomPicture 007 copy.jpgThese blooms have more petals the other plants. Then there is this group that doesn't produce many blooms but does great with new growth.newgrowthPicture 008 copy.jpg
 

Oxalis

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The large aloe will have to be dug by a tree-mover, and in that case, the receiving hole will have to be ready and waiting. All of the smaller ones that are in the way I'm going to ask to have them just set aside and I'll replant them later when it's not rushed and I have a chance to think about it. Cacti are very forgiving. You can practically leave them laying on top of the ground and they'll sprout roots.

The city is still in the money-offering phase of the project. I have received my preview contract and I've made my changes and sent it back. Construction is scheduled to start spring next year, but it's taking SO long taking care of each phase, that I'll bet it won't start that soon.
I hope all goes well if and when your plants need to be relocated. :cool:

Most opuntia produce blooms on the edge of the pads like the first pic.View attachment 273276I have this one group that throw out blooms from anywhere on the pad like this second picView attachment 273277These blooms have more petals the other plants. Then there is this group that doesn't produce many blooms but does great with new growth.View attachment 273278
Very nice! I am quite jealous!
 

Oxalis

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This morning, my husband saw a monarch caterpillar on our milkweed. I checked on him this afternoon, and he was hiding on the underside of a leaf, probably looking for some relief from the hot sun.

Monarch_caterpillar.jpg
 

Len B

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This morning, my husband saw a monarch caterpillar on our milkweed. I checked on him this afternoon, and he was hiding on the underside of a leaf, probably looking for some relief from the hot sun.

View attachment 275476
I don't remember ever seeing a monarch caterpillar before, except in pictures.I did get a pic of this guy earlier today resting on a red bud tree.Picture 008 copy.jpg
 

Yvonne G

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I don't know why the bees never show up. It must be because they're moving. The stationery ones in the flowers show, but not the 50 bazillion of them flying around the flowers. There were also 6 or 8 big black things. I don't know if they're bees too or not.
cactus 6-28-19 a.jpg cactus 6-28-19 b.jpg cactus 6-28-19 c.jpg

This particular plant only has three or four stems out of the ground and is about 5.5 feet tall. I have another plant just like this one out in front of my house that is about 15' tall. It is COVERED with buds, but not quite ready yet to bloom. I'll get a picture of that one in a day or two.
 
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Yvonne G

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The cactus out by the street has started to bloom, however, it looks like it's going to bloom in stages. I was hoping all the buds would open at the same time. How beautiful would that be?

cactus 7-2-19 a.jpg cactus 7-2-19 b.jpg cactus 7-2-29 c.jpg
 

Oxalis

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I don't know why the bees never show up. It must be because they're moving. The stationery ones in the flowers show, but not the 50 bazillion of them flying around the flowers. There were also 6 or 8 big black things. I don't know if they're bees too or not.
View attachment 275566 View attachment 275567 View attachment 275568

This particular plant only has three or four stems out of the ground and is about 5.5 feet tall. I have another plant just like this one out in front of my house that is about 15' tall. It is COVERED with buds, but not quite ready yet to bloom. I'll get a picture of that one in a day or two.
The cactus out by the street has started to bloom, however, it looks like it's going to bloom in stages. I was hoping all the buds would open at the same time. How beautiful would that be?

View attachment 275817 View attachment 275818 View attachment 275819
I love the colors on those. :)
 

Oxalis

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Some of our purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) in the evening sun. The butterflies have been stopping by quite often this year!

coneflower_in_sun.jpg
 

Oxalis

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A cocoon/chrysalis we recently found on the wall of our house, just behind our butterfly garden. Does it look familiar to anyone?

cocoon.jpg
 
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