A Photo a Day by Bill Heller

Cactus Photos
 
Thursday, January 17, 2008

Iridescent Epi Blossom

 One of our Orchid Cacti, blooming like crazy. It may look like a close macro shot, but it is actually THAT BIG! 'Bout 9" across. I have kind of gone wild with Orchid Cacti. We actually have about a hundred epis now. Most started from small cuttings.

 
Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Ackermanii in the Morning Sun

 My wife pointed this blossom out to me this morning. It's a good thing too. The sun was so harsh this afternoon that the top of it got burned! This is on our biggest Orchid Cactus. It has been blooming non-stop for about a month which is pretty impressive since even in the shade each blossom only lasts for a few days.

 
Saturday, May 26, 2007

Salmon Epi

 Another of our new Orchid Cacti cuttings is showing off. This one surprised me. The bud did not seem to grow when we first got it. And as a cutting, I did not expect it to. Unlike the Iridescence cutting that started opening the day we brought it home, this guy's bud was very small. Once we got it in the pot however it was a different story. The pad perked up and the bud got bigger and, as you can see, it is very happy now.

 
Saturday, May 19, 2007

Blooming Irridescense

 Well Saturday has become Epiphyllum day apparently, so why break with tradition. :-D

This is the second blossom on the cutting from last week as it was about to open. The cuttings are all planted now and seem to be doing well. I used a combination of soil, peat moss, bark and coconut fibers.

I'm trying for better drainage than usual because from what we have read they will actually have a better root structure if they have to go looking for water and nourishment. (I usually just plant them in potting soil.)

Since they are a jungle canopy plant, the roots are supposed to be almost as impressive as the pads themselves, up to six feet! Now that's a root! I'd like to see that, but I don't know if I have the nerve to try to coax them into growing that long.

 
Saturday, May 12, 2007

Epiphyllum Irridescense

 Last Sunday there was a Cactus and Succulent show here in Santa Barbara. We went looking for some new Epiphyllums, and specifically this one. I saw one the day before at a Nursery and had my fingers crossed they would have it at the show. We got this one as a single pad cutting. Of course that one pad is about two feet long and four inches wide, with two blossoms.

To get an idea of the scale, the petals are almost an inch across and about five long. The whole blossom is at least eight inches across.

I hope you like it, because there are more Epi photos to come. We got seven cuttings at the show of six different varieties! I think it is safe to say we have a jungle in our back yard now since I have long since lost count how many we have.

 
Saturday, May 5, 2007

Wild Jungle Cactus

 No it's not a man eating plant. (Well as long as I keep watering it and do what it says anyway.) The flowers on my Orchid Cacti are usually pretty amazing, but this one is particularly wild and they are not even open yet! There is nothing in the photo for size reference but the pink part of the blossom is at least four inches long. It's a good time of year to be a crazy photographer with a collection of wild plants!

 
Monday, April 30, 2007

Friends

 When the Epiphyllum get going they really go wild. This blossom (the red one) is from the beautiful cactus that got us kicked out of our last apartment. Well, maybe not that dramatic, but I sure was not going to trim the cactus like the land lord wanted!

The lilies lived here when we moved in. They are actually in the ground in what we now call "Cactus Corner". They have had to stretch a little taller to see the sun. But they make an amazing contrast with the cactus and they always seem to be intertwined, I like to think they are friends.

 
Saturday, April 28, 2007

Spring Epiphyllum

 It's looking a lot like spring around here. We've spent the last couple of weekends working on our yard. New pots and more dirt all around. This beauty now has an automated dripper. Even though it is a cactus, ours are the happiest when they are sitting in a puddle of water for a couple of hours a day. Of course if you have been treating yours like a desert plant, I would recommend making the transition to hydroponics slowly, so as not to shock it.

 
Saturday, August 12, 2006

Cactus Blossom

 Today we went over to La Sumida Nursery in search of a nice hummingbird feeder. Our current hummingbird feeder is just about done blooming.

Didn't find anything too interesting in a feeder. But the amazing display of plants always makes it a great place to wander with a camera.

 
Sunday, June 11, 2006

Sharp Pear Blossom

 There are pads on this cactus that are completely covered around the edge with blossoms. I have tried to get some nice shots that show the amazing quantity, but the beauty of the individual blossoms and buds keeps drawing me in closer.

 
Tuesday, June 6, 2006

Orchid Cactus in the Fern

 This plant is getting huge! I love it! It sits high on a stack of clay pots and wooden planters in the corner of our yard. This is one of its "exploration" runners that it has sent off in search of rich soil or water (or in lieu of that possibly small farm animals).
 
Monday, May 29, 2006

Night Blooming Epiphyllum

 Another one of our Orchid Cacti started it's show this evening. From what I read this is more what they are like in the wild. This beautiful blossom opened up as the sun was going down. The flower has a great fragrance and it is about twice the size of the flowers on our big day-blooming Epiphyllum. It is at least 6" from tip to tip of the outside petals, with the cup of petals in the middle being over 4".

Most of the wild Epiphyllum blossoms last only one night and fade by morning so I wanted to get a shot of this right away. This is the first time this guy is blooming since we got him, so I don't know exactly what to expect. But, If I can get him in full sunlight I will try to get a nice shot with some reference to the size.

So, blooms at night, Has a blossom the size of a salad plate that is white and fragrant that you could see even if you were flying around half blind. Can you tell what they are trying to attract?

 
Friday, May 19, 2006

Epiphyllum Blossom

 This is one of our blooming Orchid Cacti that I mentioned the other day.

If you have one and want to know what makes them happy, we have one in full sunlight and several in the shade. (this guy is actually hanging from our patio umbrella) The full sun one is HUGE, the others are still happy. One was inside for a while. It is much happier outside, although it grew very long thin pads looking for food while it was inside. Now that it is outside it is popping out all kinds of thick little pads along the lengths of the woody thin pads. Makes for a very interesting plant. One thing they all have in common is they love water. You may think since they are cacti, they like to be dry, but they are definitely jungle plants. More about their history, and one of the reasons I love them so much see this photo of the day.

 
Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Cactus Feathers

 Zoe took me for a walk today, as she has been known to do. We took a little different path than we normally do. We went past this beautiful Prickly Pear cactus up the street from us. It is about six feet tall and it is in a pot in front of a house near the street. It is pretty obvious by the health of the plant that the growth of the roots has not been slowed by the bottom of the pot!

I think the coloring on the petals makes them look like feathers.

 
Sunday, August 7, 2005

Desert View

 This was a sunny day in front of my old apartment in Palm Desert, CA. This cactus was over six feet tall and they actually had to prune it a couple times a year to keep it that height.

 
Monday, June 20, 2005

Lotusland Entryway

 The day I took this was a bit overcast which actually gave the image a nice feel. IMHO, harsher shadows would make the photo busier and take away from the overall feel.

 
Monday, June 13, 2005

Mission Arches

 One of my new collection of local architecture images. I am preparing them for a restaurant remodel.

 
Thursday, May 19, 2005

Now That's a Stinger!

 I like to chase bees, as I mentioned before. So far I have been fortunate and none of my subjects have stung me. I suppose it is only a matter of time, but when I get the image I am looking for... I kind of think the feeling could make up for the pain of a sting.

 
Sunday, May 15, 2005

Cactus Garden

 Lotusland is an amazing place. The result of one person's love of plants. Now it is open to the public (by reservation). There are gardens of all kinds, not just it's namesake flowers. Some, like this cactus garden, are new since the garden's benefactor, Ganna Walska, passed away. It has been a wonderful place for a photographer, rich with subjects you would never see in the wild.

 
Thursday, March 31, 2005

Cactus Blossoms

 This cactus lives in an interesting place. A spot in Lotusland where you can stand in the middle of the street and see an incredible example of parallel evolution. On one side of the street are Cactus, from the deserts of the Americas. On the other, there are plants that most would mistakenly call cacti too. However, if you look a little closer, you will see some subtle differences. For example, thicker thorns rather than thin "needles" and a sticky white sap, which incidentally is at least a little poisonous. These plants are Euphorbia. Their most common relative, one that you would probably recognize, is the Poinsettia. They are from the arid areas of Africa. Although they appear similar to Cacti, they have been separated by a half a world for most of their evolutionary history. An interesting statement on the influence of environment in evolution.

 
Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Tequila on the Hoof

 Well, probably not really Tequila fixin's. I don't think it's not that kind of Agave and this one in particular has a safe home at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

I like the color of this plant, more blue-gray than most Agave. The older outer leaves make interesting patterns on the new inner leaves making many interesting photographic opportunities.

Like my Orchid Cactus the Agave are commonly pollinated by bats.

 
Wednesday, February 9, 2005

The Orchid Cactus

 Another in the "Photos I Grew Myself" series!

This plant is the reason I moved out of my previous home. The vertical bars in the photo are part of the railing on the patio of our old apartment. At the time of this photo this cactus had over sixty blossoms, each about three inches in diameter. Only a small part of the plant is actually in the picture. Our neighbors complemented us all the time on our plants.

Why did I have to move? The management of the property thought that the plants were a little disorderly hanging through the bars like this. So they wanted us to trim this one in particular.

Now we live in a much nicer place where my plants have a lot more room, and I was able to get a Basset Hound!

I have always loved Cacti, and this has got to be one of my favorite types. I have several of them, but this one is by far the happiest. I got it as a small start at the Santa Barbara Farmers' Market.

This Cactus is known as The Orchid Cactus, but the similarities between this beauty and the tropical flowers go much deeper than just the impressive blossoms. These Cacti are indigenous to the jungles of South and Central America where they live in the tree tops. Just like most orchids, they depend upon their host plant for access to the jungle canopy so they can reach sunlight, but they are not parasites. Their nutrition comes from decaying vegetation and other things trapped in the pockets of the trees where they live. This type of plant is called an epiphyte, as opposed to a parasite which draws nutrition directly from it's host. Orchids and Bromeliads are the most recognizable members of this group, but it includes a vast array of plants from ferns to mosses, and lichens.

Update...

This plant is a "day bloomer" hybrid, whose blooms last for several days. Most naturally occurring Epiphyllum species bloom only in the evening creating enormous fragrant white blossoms that only last for one night. I guess you have to do this when your "bee" is as big as a bird, only comes out at night, and is as blind as... well... a bat. Which, incidentally, is exactly what pollinates these plants in the wild, along with the occasional large moth.

 
Monday, January 17, 2005

Prickly Pear Flower

 There is a great cactus garden on Figueroa Street in Santa Barbara. I pass there often after eating at one of my favorite restaurants, Los Arroyos.

I took this photo when I introduced my parents to Los Arroyos for the first time. Ironically, they were in town to see my first Photography exhibition, a collection of flower close-ups.

 
Feedback for cactus photos:

Name:
e-Mail†:
Subject:
Message:
NOTE: No automated emails are sent from this system and all submissions are securely reviewed offline prior to posting on the site.

† Your email address is optional. If you do provide it, it will not be displayed on the site and it will never be given out to anyone.

-Bill Heller

 
Calendar Last Week Last Month Last Year