Eagle Claws and Twisted Ribs

Eagle's Claw Cactus (Echinocactus horizonthalonius) also less romantically known as Devil's Head Cactus in twin bloom and many times also blooms with three flowers at a time.  Some how these plants have an internal clock that if you had 100 of these cactus planted in different locations roughly 90% of them would bloom on the very same day.

This cactus can be found every 30 feet in some parts of the .Big Bend Ranch State Park.  Certainly one of the most striking color combinations.  Some of the Eagle Claw Cacti found in Big Bend are rumored to be 100 years old based on the incredibly slow growth rate.  I would estimate the cactus in this picture maybe a old as 20 years.



Twisted Rib Cactus (Thelocactus setispinus) in habitat close to Lake LBJ.  Variety is most likely 'hamatus' given that it has long hooked spines.  Some of these can grow quite large, I remember seeing one at Enchanted Rock that was over 18 inches tall.

These cactus were growing in full sun on a small novaculite dome in an open field.  These fields had just begun to be mowed by the city of Horseshoe Bay.  I found several cactus that had been cut in half or uprooted by the mowing blades.  Just a few years later any remaining cactus with a height over a few inches had been extirpated.

Mammillaria heyderi (nipple cactus) in a protected location.  Apparently these small semi-dome cactus can have yellow flowers but the only ones I have ever seen are cream colored.  The fruits are sweet as strawberries and come in two colors that I have observed brick red or magenta purple.



Another Mammillaria this one missing its' top most likely due to mowing blade.

First Cactus Garden - Horseshoe Bay, Texas





Upon my return from visiting the Huntington Gardens in California I created this small cactus garden for my Mom in Horseshoe Bay in Central Texas.




You will see that in this first attempt I paid little attention to what might or might not be cold hardy long term.  Surprisingly many of the more tender plants survived and bloomed for several years before finally succumbing to temperatures in the  mid teens.  The Thelocactus setispinus (middle left) and Notocactus leninghausii (top left) would be the long term survivors.

An advantage to a small garden like this is that it can easily be covered with a blanket should subfreezing temperatures occur.  However, this protection is much less effective when temperatures stay below freezing for more than about eight hours at a time.




I rescued this little beauty from a new housing development close to my house.  It had already been unearthed and run over by a bull dozer clearing lots.  I was able to clean it up and pot it and the following spring it rewarded my efforts with a beautiful bloom and lots of little "pups" around the base.

This is a Pineapple Cactus (Coryphantha sulcata).




What I thought originally might be a Copperhead snake turns out to be the more kid friendly and beneficial Texas Rat Snake.  I am happy for him to eat is many rats as he likes, unfortunately they also eat baby birds and bird eggs as I will show in a later post.

Living Bird Seed!!! - This Ice Plant (Delosperma cooperi) turned out to be a favorite food of all sorts of finches (Lesser and American Gold Finches as well as Purple Finches and possibly House Finches) visiting our back yard, how they learned to eat it I have no idea being that it is non native and if they would even visit it had it been growing sprawled across the ground rather than suspended in a hanging basket.  Maybe there are other native succulent plants that finches consume in this way?