Welcome

Hi and welcome to the Pagan Plants blog, which I will run alongside the main www.paganplants.co.uk website. The purpose of this blog is to keep a record of my gardening and to provide progress reports on the construction and running of the main site.

"Melted Wax" Seedlings

After yesterday's post on my "Melted Wax" bridgesii cacti, I thought I would introduce you to two interesting bridgesii seedlings I am growing. I sourced about 20 Trichocereus bridgesii seeds from a guy living in Australia a couple of years ago. They were all viable and they turned out to be the fastest growing cacti seedlings I have ever grown - well, except for these two individuals, which I believe have become Monstrose "Melted Wax" variations:

A "Melted Wax" T. bridgesii seedling

Another "Melted Wax" T. bridgesii seedling

Whilst their two year old siblings are now already 15cm+ in height, these two characters are just a couple of centimetres tall. They have certainly compensated for their abnormal slow growth with their curious appearance however :o)

Gepetto and Dexter

I have quite a few rare Shamanic cacti in my collection, amongst them some Monstrose Trichocereus bridgesii of the "Melted Wax" variety. This really is a fascinating form of the Bolivian Torch and their convoluted growth (which takes on the appearance of ancient, well used candles)  makes every specimen unique. They are without doubt one of the more absorbing plants to grow. I will only introduce two of them in this particular post, cacti I have named Gepetto and Dexter.

Geppetto is a trully lovely specimen and I am proud to have this one join my interesting collection of cacti:

Gepetto, my oldest Trichocereus bridgesii 'Melted Wax'

 
Gepetto is the largest of my Trichocereus bridgesii "Melted Wax" (currently measuring 27cm in height) and is also the most convoluted of them.

Dexter in all his convoluted glory

Dexter is the newest cactus to join my collection (I only received him this week in a trade on the newly created plant swap forum PlantX ~ I swapped him for 2 x Mandrake seedlings). As such, I only have the one photograph of him to share for this post.

Dexter

Dexter is not quite as convoluted as Gepetto yet but at less than half his height (currently standing 12cm tall) I am expecting equally interesting growth patterns to develop in him over the next few years. His growth tips are already looking intriguing...

Triple Bloom :o)

I picked up this 6cm Lophophora at a bargain price from the Royal Horticultural Show in Cardiff last month. Although the cacti seller there had numerous Peyote on offer, this particular specimen really caught my eye and was, in fact, the only purchase I made during my day at the show. The cactus has already rewarded my interest by not only being the first of my Lophs to flower this year but by also producing a rare triple bloom :o)

Peyote are undoubtedly my favourite plants and they represent the largest species collection of any plant I grow. Whilst most of my Peyote can be seen on the Peyote page on Pagan Plants, I will introduce them individually here on this blog over the coming weeks and months as they catch my attention.

Sinicuichi

Six-month old Sinicuichi being grown as bonsai plants

Fire in the Garden

Had a bit of a clear up in the front garden today and burnt all the dead privet cuttings that had been filling the front lawn for too many weeks.

There really is nothing quite like a garden fire :o)

Pearl Hugger

A pearl-hugger sat afoot one of my Pachanots