Arik
Member
Nice Vepr!
Saguaro cactus
- Thread starter Gunslinger808
- Start date
Thank you all for the great photos. I moved from Tucson 30 years ago (combo of career and not being able to handle the heat anymore). Have family still in the both Tucson and Phoenix though it's been a few years since I've visited, need to go back soon-perhaps this winter.
We moved there in 1968, I was 12, and my dad and I used to go on many hikes and photo excursions in the desert. Loved the area near the Az/Sonora Desert Museum-dad was a docent there.
Thanks again.
We moved there in 1968, I was 12, and my dad and I used to go on many hikes and photo excursions in the desert. Loved the area near the Az/Sonora Desert Museum-dad was a docent there.
Thanks again.
chaparrito
Member
Beautiful closeup of a Saguaro bloom!
After the flower drops off a fruit forms below. The Tohono O'Otam (Papago) Indians have a traditional ceremony involving the harvest and fermentation of that fruit. Saguaro wine. When I was in college at ASU long ago I was invited to take part in the ceremony down in Sells, AZ and got to taste the wine. Very tasty, only slightly alcoholic stuff.
Video - Saguaro Harvest Tradtions of the Tohono O'odham - Arizona State Museum
After the flower drops off a fruit forms below. The Tohono O'Otam (Papago) Indians have a traditional ceremony involving the harvest and fermentation of that fruit. Saguaro wine. When I was in college at ASU long ago I was invited to take part in the ceremony down in Sells, AZ and got to taste the wine. Very tasty, only slightly alcoholic stuff.
Video - Saguaro Harvest Tradtions of the Tohono O'odham - Arizona State Museum
Peter M. Eick
Member
As a comment, I got a little 3" tall Saguaro back in 78 that I have kept alive since then in various pots. Its about 3' tall now. I picked up another one in 98 and did a better job of keeping it in big pots. Its about 2' tall now.
Organ pipes are easy to grow. My 2008 one has put on 6" since I got it.
Key point with potted Saguaro's. They need a BIG pot to really flourish.
Organ pipes are easy to grow. My 2008 one has put on 6" since I got it.
Key point with potted Saguaro's. They need a BIG pot to really flourish.
Will Carry
Member
Thanks for sharing those most excellent photos. For those of you who have never visited Arizona, you are truly missing out. The scenery is spectacular and the people are friendly. Around every turn there is something to see. Go in early April if you can. It's cooler and the desert is in bloom.
I enjoyed our trip through Organ Pipe monument. We walked out among the saguaros and saw some great specimens. Huge. Did you know that they sing?? When the wind blows though them they give off sounds like a soft organ pipe. I wonder if this is why it's called 'Organ Pipe Monument"? I was also amazed at the amount of wild life in the area.
Saguaros great, I love walking among them. Yeah, I've heard them sing. Maybe that's one reason their called 'Organ Pipe' besides looking like long tubes. And yeah they are protected because people were getting kicks out of destroying them, ramming them with cars and stuff. One rammer had the cactus fall on him and it's like a heavy log because it's full of water and it smashed him flat.
JJEH
Member
I like taking pictures of cactus in different seasons. Here are a few to add to this enjoyable thread.
Winter time in the 4 Peaks area, looks like Christmas in AZ:
Late Springtime with some Cholla and Saguaro:
Summer Monsoon season. There's a large nest inside this big old Saguaro:
Early Spring Saguaros. The wild flowers don't last long, if they come out at all:
And the best kind of cactus; those with horses in the foreground. It doesn't get more Arizona than that:
Somewhere I have a picture of a giant Saguaro skeleton sticking out the back of a Prius, that a guy was trying to steal. It was 3 times longer than that tiny eco car. If I find it I'll throw it up...
Sorry for keeping all the pictures in the quote, but that's paradise right there. Awesome, thanks for sharing. Can't wait for the next 5 years to go by...
S.Alt_4"44's
Member
Great post Gunslinger and everyone's photos are great! I sure do love it out here as well. Made a drive from Surprise to Wilcox & visited the Chiricahua's a couple weeks ago up through Globe then back home through Tucson, did the whole loop. Stunning scenes even on that little jaunt. Can't the Saguaro hold like some 500+ gallons of water after a good rain? @ 8 lbs per gallon....that's definitely making "people pancakes" if you get caught under one!
eveled
Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2013
- Messages
- 2,612
- Reaction score
- 3,448
I went to Arizona once, it really is a different kind of beautiful. The cactus are beautiful. At night it is hard to not feel like you are being watched, they have an almost human silhouette that you don't notice until around twilight, Ed.
We live in an ugly time. I appreciate threads about beauty. Thanks.
Last edited:
Peter M. Eick
Member
The necking even shows up on my cactus. I can see every time I repotted them as a neck and expansion. Advice if you growing them. Get a really big pot up front!
chaparrito
Member
Saguaros are not called Organ Pipes. Organ Pipe Cacti are not called Saguaros. They're two different plants.
JJEH
Member
Arizona, as many of you know, is a very independent and freedom-loving state. We vigorously resent unwarranted intrusion into our affairs by outside influences. Accordingly, there has been a push in recent years to adopt a new state flag featuring a saguaro cactus.
John
John
Yes...right after posting about the beauty, the posts start with pics of nature flipping us the bird. Ah yes, this is our forum.
