Use this forum to discuss matters relating to Agave, Beschorneria, Furcraea, Hesperaloe, Hesperoyucca, Manfreda, Polianthes, Yucca and related species. This is where one posts unknown plant photos for ID help.
Saw some photos online this week that I thought would be worth sharing:
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Edit to add captions: The bent stalk is from someone moving their agave under cover for some cold weather while they were traveling for a couple weeks. Then they came back to it having bloomed and bending from the awning.
The bear photos are from Big Bend. I'm wondering if it is pregnant because it is pretty round compared to the other photos of bears I see there.
I imagine exploring the wild places on horseback must be the easiest and best way to do it but also imagine it is a way of life that is dying out? How many of you guys actually 'could' do that?
Paul S wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:15 am
I imagine exploring the wild places on horseback must be the easiest and best way to do it but also imagine it is a way of life that is dying out? How many of you guys actually 'could' do that?
It’s just tradition and heritage that certain people enjoy and don’t want to disappear. A lot of rural people still own horses. Only a small but dedicated group of people will ride them up a trail like that. It’s more about the experience than being any easier. At one point you could ride a horse up Guadalupe Peak, which I can’t even imagine given the condition of the trail right below the peak. It’s no longer allowed but the signs that indicate where to dismount and lead your horse past treacherous points still exist.
There are horse properties two streets over from my house right smack dab in the middle of the urban sprawl. With actual horses... See a lot of people out and about with horse trailers still on the weekends. Though they are definitely in the minority compared to people with quads, dirt bikes, and souped up off-road vehicles and.... wait for it.... speed boats. There are plenty of areas with dedicated horse trails.
I do not ride but my wife does and she used to go out riding relatively frequently when we had friends on the outskirts of town that kept horses - they have since moved away.
I follow the main national parks Facebook page and several of the individual national parks facebook pages, and just recently I saw one - I can't remember if it was Grand canyon or one of the Utah parks - post about how mule rides down one of the trails is becoming more and more popular.
I know that the Grand Canyon mule rides down to the river are booked up way in advance. It is a nice way to get down there and more importantly back up...
Paul S wrote: ↑Sun Dec 03, 2023 2:15 am
I imagine exploring the wild places on horseback must be the easiest and best way to do it but also imagine it is a way of life that is dying out? How many of you guys actually 'could' do that?
The average age of horse owners who ride on trails is quite old. Owning a horse and going out riding is a fairly expensive proposition for most folks. Not just the horse but the land (or boarding it), trailer and truck. The general business of trails in many western places makes for less pleasant (or just unsafe) riding than in the past. Lotta headwinds for that activity now.
Just saw a video of an Agave sebastian bloom. Went to find a photo, also. This has got to be in the top 3-5 unique agave blooms. Agave montana is up there, too, I think.
I saw a photo of a succulent wall the other day. Have been looking for more examples and how-to info. Came upon this one. Attenuatas that size growing in pouches that small is wild.
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Also while looking, I saw a grapto wall that @abborean might like:
I think attenuata grows on steep cliffs naturally so I doubt they have much soil. They don’t need all those spikes when they grow in a completely inaccessible area.
Gafoto wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2024 7:42 am
I think attenuata grows on steep cliffs naturally so I doubt they have much soil. They don’t need all those spikes when they grow in a completely inaccessible area.
Ah I see. I guess the impressive part is that the felt wall isn't sagging or bulging there. I know they aren't as heavy as others with thicker leaves and larger core, but they still don't look light.
I love attenuatas. I know they don't seem very popular here, though. Wish I had a greenhouse and could keep more. I saw a ton and Kona and Santa Barbara so I guess they're pretty popular for landscaping in areas they survive in, but I don't see them mentioned too much here.
Gafoto wrote: ↑Tue Jan 02, 2024 7:42 am
I think attenuata grows on steep cliffs naturally so I doubt they have much soil. They don’t need all those spikes when they grow in a completely inaccessible area.
Ah I see. I guess the impressive part is that the felt wall isn't sagging or bulging there. I know they aren't as heavy as others with thicker leaves and larger core, but they still don't look light.
I love attenuatas. I know they don't seem very popular here, though. Wish I had a greenhouse and could keep more. I saw a ton and Kona and Santa Barbara so I guess they're pretty popular for landscaping in areas they survive in, but I don't see them mentioned too much here.
We really lust after the plants we can’t have the most. To people on the California coast they might be ones of the most common landscape plants there are. They’re everywhere to the point that they become just background noise.
I think Jeremy Spath writes about the variegated Agave americana in a similar way. They’re objectively incredible looking plants but so common in mediterranean climates they become rote.
Agaves are rare enough in Salt Lake that when one blooms it becomes a temporary tourist attraction. It’s an event that people don’t even notice in Arizona unless the stalk falls into traffic.
Meangreen94z wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 12:28 pm
That’s an impressive flower. There are certain Puya that will survive most years in our climate if you like spectacular flowers.
Meangreen94z wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 12:28 pm
That’s an impressive flower. There are certain Puya that will survive most years in our climate if you like spectacular flowers.
I have Puya coerulea var. violacea seeds but I keep dragging my feet on planting them (along with a ton of others). I am looking at ordering some P. alpestris seeds. Any other recommendations?
@Paul S are those chilensis? How cold have they gotten? Any special soil amendments? How much rain per year do they see? And most importantly, Is that mailbox actually used?
nsp88 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 1:44 pm
@Paul S are those chilensis? How cold have they gotten? Any special soil amendments? How much rain per year do they see? And most importantly, Is that mailbox actually used?
This one is a hybrid. I bought it 25 years ago as Puya berteroana but, when it flowered, it proved to be a hybrid. Most likely berteroana x chilensis as this is known to arise frequently when the 2 species grow together. A botanist chap I know is going to write it up and give it a proper name. Puya berteroana has since been given a name change, which is a bit of a mouthfull, to Puya alpestris subsp. zoellneri. Mine has been growing outside all that time, 25 years, in freely draining, rocky soil. The lowest temperature in that time was in January 2010 when it went down to -8C (18F?) with 2 weeks when it didn't rise above freezing day or night. So not massively cold. It has flowered 5 times, those 3 heads were the most impressive - overall the plant was 12ft tall. In this country it is an unusual plant to see outside away from the mildest southwest. My part of England is dry - average 510mm of rain which is around 20". Hence my being here on the forum! This year has been crazy wet, probably 760-780mm/30-32" - a lot for here but still only the UK average. And, yes, the mailbox is used by a cave troll that inhabits an old WW2 air raid shelter that was built into the slope.
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nsp88 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 7:14 pm
If anyone is looking for a perfect home it Tucson, I found it for you. Complete with large agaves, cacti, and yuccas:
What a dream I imagine you need several buckets per room during a rainstorm, which luckily isn’t that often in Tucson. It also doesn’t appear to have A/C, that house would cost a fortune to cool.
I imagine you need several buckets per room during a rainstorm, which luckily isn’t that often in Tucson. It also doesn’t appear to have A/C, that house would cost a fortune to cool.