claret cup

One of the first native plants that I learned about was the claret cup cactus, Echinocereus triglochidiatus. I totally fell in love with the flowers: the charming form,  the delicacy yet brilliant color against the spiny succulent plant. It's one of the few non-blue flowers that struck me instantly speechless. So when I moved to New Mexico, I had to have one. Or some. I was surprised that there were none to be found (which of course has changed since then). But I did find a packet of seeds at POTSW (Plants of the Southwest). So on the windowsill in my apartment, I planted this packet of seed, in a four inch pot of sand and perlite. About 25-30 of them germinated, and about a year later, when I moved into my house, they were perhaps 1/4 inch high and were separated. Many were given away. Planted in the front yard, some did okay, some seemed not to grow at all.  One bloomed a few years later. When I had the house re-stuccoed, a few were trampled to their deaths. The others were quickly dug up and potted, and then, when the stucco-istas were done, planted into the backyard. Six plants were saved. There they have sat, and although they grew, they did not bloom. Last year, one bloomed. Shown above this year, it has a number of flowers. This year, 8 years after the seed were planted, it looks like three plants will bloom. Hurrah!

I'm surprised at the variety of forms that the plants have grown into. Perhaps some are hybrids with E. coccinea?

This plant is enormous (compared to the others), about a foot across and more than 10 inches tall, but has yet to bloom. Spination is coarse, curved and few.

Look at how different the spination is on this plant compared to the previous.  Spines are straight, fine, and multiple. This plant is 6-1/2 inches tall. No blooms this year.

This is another big guy, about 10 inches tall, but less clumping. Spines also coarse and curved. No flowers this year.

I can't claim this plant among the rest, as it was purchased a couple of years ago from High Country Gardens. It is the White Sands strain, and has grown fairly rapidly. No flowers yet, though. 6 inches tall.

This plant is 5 inches tall, and will have its first flowers this year. Again, I'm surprised at how different the spination is, also straight multiple spines. It's also more of a clump former.

This plant was the size of a quarter for about 4 years, unchanging. It had almost no spines at all, but has since grown a few. Since it was transplanted to the back yard it has grown to 4 inches tall. This will be its first bloom.