Cactus

When we walked around the garden of our newly purchased home in Rushworth, my husband commented, rather negatively, about the large cactus plant against the western fence. I have since studied it and found that it is a Golden Torch Cactus or Trichocereus Spachianus. This is a very fast growing, clumping cactus which grows as a group of columns, some of which reach as high as two metres. It is often used as grafting stock for slow growing plants. It has bright green stems with 10 - 15 defined ribs and golden yellow spines (which can be extremely painful to come in contact with!) .

A native of the arid areas in Argentina and Bolivia in South America, this plant requires full sun and is very well suited to warm - hot climates. As an added bonus it can handle some frost. In fact , it is perfectly suited to Rushworth and Central and North Central  Victoria!

Even better, it is drought tolerant and prefers well draining soil. Whether grown in pots or in the ground, it should never sit in water.

I have grown succulents before but never a huge feature cactus as this truly is. We did begin cutting some pieces off and “ forking “ them into the green bin…. Not too many at a time as they are insanely heavy! But … 

Then some  weird ,black growths began appearing on various random parts of the cactus . They were longish, black and furry…like huge spiders…. 

Magically, during the night, these furry fingers transformed into the most exquisite, large, white, fragrant blooms! Sadly lasting a day, two at the most, these 5 - 8 inch wide flowers are an exquisite but temporary addition to the garden. The bees adore them and now, so do we! This strong sentinel will be remaining in our garden for a long time to come.

                                      Baby boomer bloomer