Hello, it is I again, Chess the purebred border collie. You may remember me from such delightful posts like “The Sphinx” and all the others that the guy I live with lets me do, in order to give this blog a little bit of interest. Here I am in a characteristic pose, looking very, very, very sad.
This is the look of someone who knows he’s about to be left at home. It’s a very, very sad look indeed.
The guy I live with went to Timberline Gardens like he does a lot. He explained that he wanted some containers. So he went there, and had some plants in his cart, but didn’t have his wallet in his pocket, so it took him three times as long because he retraced his steps twice, and there were a lot of steps to retrace. He was afraid this might be the sign that his declining years were coming on faster than he suspected, and so he left the nursery (it’s a real nursery, where they grow their own plants) without any plants, but it turned out that his wallet was sitting on the table where it always is, unless it’s in his pants pocket. So it was only a partly sad story. He’s back now, and he didn’t lose his wallet. Or, possibly more importantly, his mind.
It turned out, though, that the cactus display garden was in full bloom, and the guy I live that says it was jaw-dropping. The opuntias have plenty of room to spread, and are superbly grown. You can get most of these at Timberline, or online at Cold Hardy Cactus too. The guy I live with took some pictures.
That’s a lot of cactus, huh.
See you later.
the miserable gardener 
STUNNING!!!!!
Thanks, yes, it is. I’d never seen the opuntias in bloom there before.
I brake for salmon-colored Opuntias.
They are cool. If I had had my glasses with me, and wasn’t wondering where my wallet was, I might have written down some of the names. The second cactus picture is Taylor’s Red, and the one after that is Peach Chiffon. Fourth from the bottom is Crystal Tide. Cactus pictures 9 and 11 should have had names, because they’re gorgeous, but I was distracted. I’d misplaced my cart, too, which turned out to be clear on the other side of the very large nursery.
I had to put my sunglasses on!
The sun is so blindingly bright here anyway, but the cactus were even more blindingly bright. The only floral display that equals this, that I know of, in terms of needing sunglasses, is massed hardy iceplants.
Hi Bob, I’m a Bob too. I’m glad though because the alternative was going to be Francis. My grandfather talked my parents out of Francis. Enjoyed the pix although they dampened my spirits a little because I was enjoying the flowering of my hardy opuntias and cylindropuntias today here in Maryland, and I thought they looked pretty good, but wow, those flowering clumps you showed were just spectacular. I’m going to have to order more polyacanthas, they really have lovely flowers. Glad you didn’t lose your wallet. I’ve done that twice, and when you realize it is missing, there’s no way to describe the pit of your stomach feeling. Again, thanks for all the eye candy the photos were great. Hope you and Chess have a great start to the new week.
Eye candy definitely. Denver’s intense sunlight helps a lot, too.
Kelly does feed the opuntias, maybe with Cactus Juice. He was giving a class there so I didn’t ask. I also didn’t get pictures of all the opuntias, believe it or not.
Jaw dropping indeed! I almost couldn’t see the plants because there were so many damn flowers…
And there’s a Snow Leopard in the middle just for contrast. It was ridiculously spectacular and I should have taken more pictures. Most of them are attractive out of flower, too, and some have beautiful purple pads in winter. In a typical winter, not the ones we’ve been having, I should say.
Just WOW!
Indeed.
Wonderful! I never knew cacti & their flowers could look so beautiful. Good photo of you too Chess, although a smile would’ve been nicer, I mean you did have the house to yourself. 🙂
There’s nothing to do when he’s not here. I can’t figure out how to turn on the TV …..