Oreocereus doelzianus

 

I know, I posted this plant back in June or July, but - hey! - it's blooming again. It's one of those gifts which keep on giving. We don't give this plant any special care. In fact, it gets neglected an awful lot. But then, every summer it blooms and blooms. It's as if it's saying, "Hey, look at me; I'm still here, stupid. Water me!!!"

Cephalocereus senilis

Seedlings of the Old Man of Mexico used to be very common at the local nursery. The problem was always getting them past that "I'm going to turn to mush on you" stage. That's a stage that came rather regularly in our early years of getting to know succulent plants. Now they're not as commonly available - due, I understand, to a shortage of seed. So if you happen on a nice specimen, you might want to grab onto it...not literally, of course. After all, under all that hair there are some sharp little spines. Kind of like some people I know... And, please,  they don't need little plastic eyes or strawflowers glued onto them!

Old Weird Old Men!

This is our confabulation of weird old men (Cephalocereus senilis crests). Like most of us, they're a little twisted with age!

Old Man Convention

Over the years we developed a collection of various crested and monstrose plants and these silver haired "old men" are among my favorites. Maybe it's not a convention, just a coffee klatch.

Yes, they're grafted plants of Cephalocereus senilis. The grafts were done by Lazlo at Desert Nursery.