Glad you got back safely.....did ya find some special plants along the way?
San Antonio Plant Swap (The People)
Oh my goodness, Lee....did I ever...lol. For someone who so loves native Texas scrub plants and cactus.....I was salivating all over the desert...lol, but remembered myself and left them for others to enjoy. :) I'll post a few photos to show ya what I mean.. :)
Look at this little guy...miles away from everything out in the middle of the desert. I think its a living rock cactus...I've actually seen them at my fav nursery here in SA. We were scrabbling around on a hike out in the Chihuahuan(sp?) desert and here it was on a mtn top...several others were growing close by...just nice and quiet...and flat amidst the stones.. :) Beautiful... :)
Here is another favorite...I think its a wild aster...but I'm not sure.....I found this little guy along the Rio Grande river near Boquillas, Mexico... :)
I'm not sure what these are, but they grew closely down on the desert floor...in solitary clusters.... I loved the shadows that they made.. :)
And of course, who can't admire river cane...along the muddy Rio Grande... :)
Gary told me that I should create a thread from my Big Bend trip...since I took over 150 photos....it is really a photographer's dream out there....and perhaps I will.. :) Here is just one more...from a huge collection.... lol
I found this little guy across an arroyo...and dadburn it, I sure did want him...but fought the temptation, lol...hard for a person who has collected wild cactus for many years. They were growing all over the desert floor!
ok..one more, lol...of me sitting in the "Window", a place where the Chisos Mtn basin empties into the desert more then 200 ft. below this spot to the desert floor, just thru this tiny gap. The side rock is so slick that you don't dare get any closer...course the wind thru there would probably blow you back if you slipped anyway...lol. People have unfortunately jumped thru there to end their lives...just really awful if you think about it while sitting there. But a true spiritual place....
Wonderful pictures Melanie I am sure you had a great time. Thank you for posting them.
Josephine.
Had a great time, Josephine.... :)
Melanie I would be glad when you post your 150 ... you have such a entertaining way of expressing whats going on out there ... you can really make one appreciate the beauty ... I saw that Skeeter Hawk :) .... brings back memories of my childhood....in upstate Florida. I got one of those Horse Cripplers too ... a DGer sent me some Cactus where they were clearing the land ... someplace near the Brazos River? Melanie that pink Rock cactus seem to be sitting in the middle of a star ...what is that? rock or cactus?
Melanie, I'd love to see your more of the pictures too. I am really enjoying what I've seen so far. It really sounds like a wonderful experience. One of these days I would love to take a trip down there.
About the one cactus you had to fight the temptation to keep. Do you know what kind he is? I was actually trying to identify that same kind of cactus on Friday, by trying to find a website with native Texas Cactus. I was at a lady's house on Friday, picking up some agave and she had one of those in her agave beds. She said it's native to Texas (called something I can't remember) and has been exposed to two Dallas winters! I have one that looks just like it in my kitchen window cactus garden. And I picked it up at Walmart for $1.00.
lol, Sylvia....that bloom is coming right out of that cactus that looks just like a rock. Amazing, isn't it? This type of cactus really hugs the desert floor and conserves everything to the point of stinginess..lol. But what an amazing adaptation...and then to put this little bloom out if it gets a tiny bit of moisture. Like I said, I found several in the same area...and if you weren't careful, could have walked right on them. I gave a little tug just to see how tight it was in the dirt...and it wouldn't budge! Good thing, since I wanted one so bad...lol.
sweezel, you should definitely go sometime....and its much closer then you may think. For a place like this to exist in our big ole state is just amazing...and completely isolated! No cell phones, no TVs, hardly any gas....and alot of space to explore...just drink a gallon of water a day, lol. Seriously...it can be deadly out there. As far as that little cactus under the rock, I think its a Devil's Pincushion...but I'm probably wrong. I picked up a wild one outside the park boundaries about 10 years ago...and it had the most amazing magenta bloom on it. I've also had the same horse crippler for about 25 years...sort of like an old friend. :)
Perhaps I will create a thread...but here in Texas Gardening...or Photos?
Melanie
Melanie, put your thread in the Texas forum, Please!
Josephine.
That's it! Thank you Mel. And Josephine took a picture of one at the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens, so it should survive. I think I will see if Walmart still has their $1.00 cactus display or just put the one I have (in picture) in the ground when I make my cactus bed.
Just had to add that Plants Delight Nursery says the Devil's Pincussion is hardy to zone 7!
I will be watching for the thread.
This message was edited Oct 22, 2006 12:45 PM
sweezel...that little guy is definitely a horse crippler, lol. They grow all over the brush country of south texas where I'm from. Mine has stayed a bit small all of these 25 or so years because I've kept it in different pots, none larger then what it is in right now. I was so excited to finally see it bloom this past April... :) They are incredibly hardy...our 12" across old timer that my parents have in a large pot survived that freak snow storm of over a foot of snow west of Corpus in 2004. So they do just fine outdoors in the cold and heat. :)
Melanie
Looks like y'all had a grand time!! Sorry I didn't make to SA to swap with y'all. It would have been nice to meet all of you...and see Calvin and Tanya and their adorable children again!
Ampy came over on Friday and we did a small swap of our own here in Austin. :) She took pictures of plants, none of us, thank goodness.
I hope all of you are having a blessed day in this nice cool weather.
Michelle