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Succulent MorselsNewsletter of the Chinle Cactus & Succulent Society
March 2018, Vol 10, No 3
March 2018, Vol 10, No 3
March Program:
“A Summer Sampler of the Sonoran Desert” will be presented by Don Campbell.
This presentation will feature highlights of an August cactus-hunting trip to the Tucson, Arizona area following the 2017 Cactus and Succulent Society of America convention.
Join us Thursday, March 8th at 6:30 p.m. for this talk at our regular meeting place: Unitarian Universalist Church, 536 Ouray Ave, Grand Junction. As usual we will also have a short business meeting, member show-and-tells, a silent auction (more on that below) and a surprise treat from chef Tom Burrows’ kitchen. Marble Canyon field trip leaders will also be available to answer any questions about logistics, travel routes, etc.
Come Prepared!
A special silent auction will be held at the March 8th regular meeting.
The club is offering to members a really nice grow light that was used at our recently dismantled display at the Math & Science center. Hydrofarm’s Agrobrite FLP48 T5 Fluorescent Light System combines specular aluminum and energy-efficient/high-output T5 tubes to put out double the light energy of a normal fluorescent system. It retails for $185. For more specifications see https://www.hydrofarm.com/p/FLP48 .
If you can’t make it to the meeting and would like to place a bid, contact Kate 1-970-773-7637 or [email protected] to make arrangements.
• 4 ft/8 lamp unit with two toggle switches allows the option to power 4 or 8 lamps
• High performance faceted specular aluminum for better light distribution
• Powder coated textured steel housing
• Low profile
• Hangs 2 ways-overhead & vertical
• 10' grounded power cord
• Includes eight fluorescent 6400K, T5 tubes
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Ground spurge (Euphorbia prostrata) featuring a drip of its caustic latex
August 2017, Vol 9 , No 8
The February Regular Meeting: Kenton Seth on “Walkin’ Away from Natives and Cacti”
Kenton Seth delivered again, sharing with us some of his hard-won landscape design experience.
The way to make sure “gardening” does not become “yard work” and ruin your fun is to plan for and steer the way the garden is going. Although it may look it, your future garden spot is not really a blank canvas. Before you start plunking down plants, take a hard look at what you have to work with. Think about the site’s aspect. What areas are going to be buffeted during high winds? Where does the direct or reflected sun beat down mercilessly? Where is the house and the neighbor’s house; where are the hardscapes and how do these influence wind, sun, rainfall and runoff? You will see that your garden site is actually a patchwork of little climate zones. If you work against them (say, a cactus garden in a shady moist area) you are pretty much assured that your gardening fun is going to be ruined. If you work with your climate zones in your grading, soil amendment and plant selection decisions, you can avoid forever fighting with the landscape.
Ignoring what your location is telling you can lead to a green carpets of weeds.
The APEX crevice garden in Arvada requires only about 20 hours per year to maintain.
An echinocereus bare-root plant ensures good contact between the soil and the plant.
Good design based on close observation of the site will do a great deal to control/choose what input is needed in the future.
A healthy dose of introspection needs to accompany planning and plant selection decisions. How much time do you really want to spend on garden maintenance? Plants have huge differences in the frequency and intensity of maintenance that they need to thrive. Choose carefully and start with your end in mind so that you can truly enjoy the time that you spend in the garden, instead of dreading it.
Page 3March 2018, Vol 10, No 3
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Ground spurge (Euphorbia prostrata) featuring a drip of its caustic latex
August 2017, Vol 9 , No 8
Preceding Kenton’s talk we had a short business meeting, summarized on Page 10 of this newsletter, a refreshment and social break and a short business meeting.
We’ll be at the 16th Annual Arbor Fest
The Club has reserved booth space at this year’s Arbor Fest, put on by the Grand Junction Parks and Rec. Saturday April 21, 12:00 - 5:00 pm.
The event is held at Lincoln Park and will feature horticultural and arts & craft booths, live music, a mac & cheese cook-off, a jalapeño eating contest, a tree lottery, live music and a craft beer expo.
We will be selling a selection of indoor and outdoor cacti and succulents and will have our updated, reworked and beautified display materials on show. Plan to volunteer (we will have a sign-up sheet and arm-twisting event at the March regular meeting) or just stop by.
More information about this event can be found at http://www.gjcity.org/residents/parks-recreation/special-events/southwest-arbor-fest/
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Armed with only some basic tools and a simple blueprint, grafting allows the hobbyist to save prized specimens and even expand their cactus and succulent collections. Here, we take some of the mystery out of this arcane art.
Reasons for Grafting
Grafting is widely used by both commercial and home growers. For commercial growers, one of the main advantages of grafting is that cacti can be produced on a massive scale. The most familiar examples of mass production are moon cacti. These mutations (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii) lack chlorophyll which, when present, masks their garish pink, orange and yellow pigments. The brightly colored non-photosynthesizing cultivars are grafted onto a “normal” chlorophyll-bearing stock (usually Hylocereus undatus). The grafted plants are the oddities familiarly known as ‘moon cacti’, ‘neon cacti’ or ‘Hibotan cacti.’
In challenging climates, such as ours on the western slope, grafting somewhat cold-sensitive individuals onto a hardy stock allows some ‘exotic’ species to grow under harsher conditions than they would otherwise be able to grow.
For both commercial and home gardeners, grafting offers a “fast” (in cactus time) way to propagate slow growing cacti. And especially important for the home gardener is that grafting is often the only way to save a rare or prized specimen that is in decline.
Why does Grafting Work?
The photo to the right shows a grafted moon cactus. The scion is the colorful upper part of this specimen. Cactus scions are typically offsets or growing plant tips. The lower green part of this grafted moon cactus specimen is the stock, which is typically a rooted stem.
Grafting works thanks to a specialized type of tissue called the vascular bundle which is present in the stems of all flowering plants. This stem-cell-like tissue produces new phloem on its outside surface and new xylem on its inside surface.
In grafting, the goal is to place the vascular bundle of the scion against the vascular bundle of the stock. Moisture and nutrients are exchanged where the vascular bundles come in contact and eventually new tissue is formed, fusing the scion to the stock. Amazingly, the vascular bundles of the scion and stock need only to touch at one point for a graft to be successful.
The Basic Rules of Grafting
There are really only a few rules that need to be followed in order to have a good chance of a successful graft. First, the scion and stock must be in the same family. This is not terribly difficult to accomplish in cactus grafting because all
Moon flowers at the Crump Nursery in Buena Vista.
Cut stem of an Opuntia debreczyi showing the vascular bundle.
A grafted moon cactus with the scion and stock labeled.
The Arcane Art of Cactus GraftingExtracts from Don Campbell’s October 2017 Presentation
Page 5March 2018, Vol 10, No 3
cacti belong to the family Cactaceae, which includes all of the familiar cacti, as well as the primitive leafy Pereskia and oddball Maihuenia genera. The second rule is that the stock should be young, plump and actively growing. The third rule is that the cutting tools should be razor sharp and sterile in order to help prevent inoculation of the grafted plant with pathogens.
Selecting the Scion and Stock
Virtually any cactus species can be used as a scion. However the stock needs to be chosen with some care. Choose stocks that are long living, have a reasonable speed of growth and that do not tend to offset. Cold or heat tolerance should also be taken into consideration. If the scion is cold tolerant and your objective is to return it to that environment, long-term failure is almost assured if you choose a stock that is highly cold sensitive. Choose scions and stocks of broadly similar hardiness.
Step-By-Step Grafting
There are two main styles of cactus grafting: the “flat graft” and the “split graft,” also known as a “wedge graft.” The split or wedge graft is often used on thin cacti, such as Epiphyllum (orchid cacti) and Schlumbergera (Christmas cacti). Here, we will focus on the flat graft.
(1 a,b) Prepare the stock. In these images a nice healthy cylindrical cactus has been selected. Cut off the top with a very sharp, sterilized utensil. You can sterilize by dipping the tool into isopropyl (“rubbing”) alcohol. Ideally, sterilize and let the tool air dry before every cut. In these photos Don is using forceps to firmly hold the cactus.
(2) Bevel the stock. This is done by trimming the stock using cuts of about 45 degrees or so. The reason to bevel is because as the cut surface dries, a rim of tough epidermis protrudes above the sunken drying soft tissue. The “cup” that forms can disrupt the contact between the scion and the stock which is a pretty surefire way for a graft to fail. Don’t forget to sterilize the tool between cuts.
(3 a,b) Prepare the scion. In this example a small offset is being used as a scion. Its preparation involves simply trimming the base with the sterilized sharp knife to expose the vascular bundle and beveling the margins. Keep the scion sterile after it is cut – don’t be chucking it onto a dirty work surface. Don’t cut yourself.
(
1a 1b 2
2
3a 3b
Page 6March 2018, Vol 10, No 3
Grafting Tools
A selection of Don’s grafting arsenal.
A good source for both clip-on and visor-type magnifiers:
www.maxiaids.com
(4) Make a final cut of the stock (not shown). This last (horizontal) cut of the tip of the stock is done as soon as possible after making the scion’s cut – you want the surfaces of the stock and scion to be as juicy and fresh as possible.
(5) Align the vascular bundles of the scion and the stock.
(6) Add light pressure to secure the graft. Rubber bands are often used to secure flat cactus grafts. Don has had good success using soft strings that are weighted with fishing weights.
6
5
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Ground spurge (Euphorbia prostrata) featuring a drip of its caustic latex
August 2017, Vol 9 , No 8
On our CC&SS field trip in May, or during any other visits to the Marble Canyon/Vermilion Cliffs area of northern Arizona, remember to keep your eyes peeled for California condors. There is no guarantee of a sighting, but this is their turf. Annual releases of raised birds have taken place since 1996 at the Vermilion Cliffs release site in House Rock Valley. The Condor Recovery Project of the Southwest is a partnership among a group of federal and state government agencies, tribes, and private non-profit organizations coordinating as the Southwest Condor Working Group (SCWG). The SWCG produces five-year reviews of the reintroduction and recovery program. The fourth review, covering 2012 to 2016, was released in November 2017 and contains a wealth of information https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/Documents/SpeciesDocs/CA_Condor/Fourth%205yr%20review%20final.pdf
The Peregrine Fund (TPF) manages day-to-day field operations and maintains a condor breeding facility at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho. TPF and the Arizona Game and Fish Department have created an advanced, medical treatment facility at Marble Canyon for condors. You might see TPF vehicles or personnel as they monitor and track condors. TPF reports on condor activities on their website and on a facebook page: https://www.peregrinefund.org/projects/california-condor https://www.facebook.com/CondorCliffs/
In spring and early summer condors frequent the Colorado River foraging and travel corridor along Marble Canyon and then downstream to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The National Audubon Society designates the Marble Canyon and Vermilion Cliffs “Important Bird Area” (IBA) from the Glen Canyon Dam to the mouth of the Little Colorado River. The IBA recognizes the large numbers of overwintering waterfowl, the reintroduced California condors, herons, raptors, and numerous other birds. http://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/marble-canyon-and-vermilion-cliffs
A very handy spot to check for condor activity is from Marble Canyon’s Navajo Bridge at the Navajo Bridge Interpretative Center of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Adult condors sometimes
California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus)
Page 8March 2018, Vol 10, No 3
Page 8
Ground spurge (Euphorbia prostrata) featuring a drip of its caustic latex
August 2017, Vol 9 , No 8
perch on the girders of the new auto bridge. March 31st of 2017, an egg was laid to a condor pair in a cave just upstream from the Navajo Bridge. The nest was monitored from the Navajo Bridge. Condors tend to mate for life and have multiple nesting sites so they might not return to the same site in consecutive years.
Map showing primary condor range of the Southwest and documented movements further afield. Image from the SCWG 2012 to 2016 review, November 2017.
Cactus Spotting: Literary Notes from Club Member Bobbie Irwin
“I enjoy reading regional mysteries, and two of the books I've read recently feature cacti (at least in minor roles). One of the series I especially enjoy is the Joanna Brady mysteries by J.A. Jance, set in and around Bisbee, Arizona. In her book Downfall, Fendler's Hedgehog, Echinocereus fendleri rectispinus is part of the plot (albeit a minor part) and even plays a role in the climax.
Anne Hillerman's book, Rock With Wings, talks about a small cactus in the vicinity of Ship Rock, NM. Based on the description and location, I identified it many pages before it was actually mentioned as Sclerocactus.”
Page 9
MarchMarch 5 Board Meeting 6:30 pm at Don Campbell’s homeMarch 8 Regular Meeting of the CC&SS 6:30 pm 536 Ouray Ave., Grand Junction, CO Program: Don Campbell: "Highlights of the August 2017 Arizona Field Excursion"March 17 Gardening 9:00 - 11:00 am at the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens, 641 Struthers Ave, Grand JunctionMarch 28 Gardening 9:00 - 11:00 am at the CSU Extension Garden, 2775 US-50, Grand Junction
AprilApril 2 Board Meeting 6:30 pm at Don Campbell’s homeApril 7 Gardening 9:00 - 11:00 am at the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens, 641 Struthers Ave, Grand JunctionApril 12 Regular Meeting of the CC&SS 6:30 pm 536 Ouray Ave., Grand Junction, CO Program: John Oberhausen “Obe” speaking on “Creating a Cactus Community”April 21 Gardening 9:00 - 11:00 am at the CSU Extension Garden, 2775 US-50, Grand Junction
Calendar of Upcoming Club Events
March 2018, Vol 10, No 3
2018 Chinle Cactus and Succulent Society Board & Appointees
President: Don Campbell Vice President: Bret SeligmanSecretary: Deb Mallory Garden Activities Coordinator: Lois Davidson
Treasurer: Eric Baltes Newsletter Editor: Kate Weissenburger Member at Large: Walt Scheer Program Committee: Shari Skeie Governance & Public Affairs: Don Campbell
Meetup: Lisa Hamilton Web Site: Kate Weissenburger
The Chinle Cactus and Succulent Society usually meets the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm. Meetings are held in the Unitarian Universalist Church, 536 Ouray Ave., Grand Junction, CO. Guests are always welcome. For information about upcoming meetings, please check our website.
Mailing Address: Chinle Cactus & Succulent Society, PO Box 233, Grand Junction, CO 81502
Phone: 1-970-773-7637
Website: chinlecactusclub.org
Contact Us: [email protected]
Time to wake up the gardens! Garden parties
start in March
Page 10March 2018, Vol 10, No 3
The meeting was called to order by President Don Campbell at 6:30PM. Guests were introduced and welcomed.
The business meeting consisted of the following:1) The financial report was given by Treasurer Eric Baltes. The money market and checking accounts are in good shape. He has investigated opening a Certificate of Deposit, but reported that the current low interest rates would not be worth tying up the money. There were some minor expenses in January. Dues payments have been coming in, and Eric reminded all those who have not yet paid, to remember to pay their dues. He also reminded everyone going on the May field trip, that the trip charge can be paid at any time.2) Committee reports: Shari Skeie reported on upcoming programs. In March, Don Campbell will present a travelogue on his 2017 Arizona trip. April will bring us John Oberhausen who will talk on “Forming a Cactus Community”, May will be the Marble Canyon field trip which will take the place of the regular meeting. Lois Davidson gave the Garden Committee report. The garden parties will start again in March (March 17 will be the first). There was a schedule available with the dates listed, for anyone wanting a paper copy. Lois reminded those wanting to help to remember to bring garden tools and a bucket for collecting plant waste.3) Don briefly described some of the items that have been retrieved from our display at the Math & Science Center. These include some very nice plants, one of which was available at tonight’s meeting for the silent auction, and some hardware - specifically an 8-tube grow light and a whimsical neon sign which could be a humorous addition to an outdoor patio area or a basement bar. The hardware will be further described in the upcoming newsletter and then put up for auction at next month’s meeting.4) Kate Weissenburger described the 2018 photo contest and mentioned the guidelines which have been published in the newsletter. The submission categories were reviewed and Kate mentioned that guidelines limit each participant to one photo per category. The biggest change in the contest will be that there is not a date restriction for any photo submitted. Photos submitted can be from years ago, if the photographer so chooses.5) Raffle plants were described. There were also some crown-of-thorns plants brought by John Moore for show-and-tell. He mentioned that his plants featured some beautiful new flower colors that hybridizers are developing.6) Ken Weissenburger briefly discussed the May field trip. The Club has decided to cap the number of participants to 24, and we have that now, as well as a waiting list. Bret Seligman mentioned that the motel does still have some rooms available, but the less expensive rooms are all completely booked. Both Ken and Don mentioned that, should anyone want/need to cancel their spot on the trip, do NOT cancel your room reservation before letting Ken and/or Don know. There will likely be someone else who can take over the room reservation in addition to to the spot on the field trip. Ken also mentioned that we will be having all participants sign a waiver and release of liability.7) There was a brief refreshment break featuring some of Tom Burrows’ delectable cookies, and attendees were given a chance to socialize and view the raffle plants, the silent auction plant, and the show-and-tell plants.
Tonight’s program was given by Kenton Seth. His lively and informative talk was on “Walking away from your Crevasse and Native Plant Garden”. Kenton gave a wealth of practical and inspiring tips on how best to design and plant a garden that will require very little attention, once it is established. He discussed choosing plants and placing them with an eye to the property’s sunlight orientation, natural and man-made features, available water and any additional water coming from downspouts or shed from roofs, the microclimates caused by the house/garage/other plants, any variations in topography, and choice of soils and mulches. He also encouraged us by humorously sharing all the “things he has done wrong” with garden design and how valuable the learning has been with respect to better plant choices in the future.
We had the raffle drawing of plants after Kenton’s talk, and then adjourned the meeting at approximately 8PM.
Respectfully submitted,Deb Mallory
Minutes of the Chinle Cactus & Succulent Society February 8, 2018
