Spines of the Golden Barrel

Now those are spines!

"Beth" the Barrel Cactus

We now have a celebrity cactus in our collection, "Beth" the barrel cactus. It all began with a phone call from Lori Fitch at the Portland, Oregon Friends of Chamber Music, asking if we had a small barrel cactus which we could loan for a "not so classical" performance of So Percussion. This is the cactus which was loaned and concert goers named it (or her) "Beth". I wasn't able to attend, but I understand she was a big hit.

Introducing "Beth", our first musical cactus!

Echinocactus grusonii crest

This old "Golden Barrel" crest has been through the war and back - and like Timex, keeps on tickin'. You may notice some damage to this plant. That's because seven years ago it survived a blistering fire. Our old garage burned down in the middle of the night and this was on the side of the greenhouse next to the garage. The greenhouse plastic melted all over everything, including the plants, and this was no exception. Now it just gives it that extra character!