Dad's Cactus

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A Sunday post about my Dad, named after a song that he loved.

My dad really loved cacti. He was always looking for the most photogenic one on trips. He also grew some at home. Mom is less fond of them so just over a year ago she let me take home the biggest one in his collection. She also moved most of the rest of them outside, under the guise of protecting the cat, but really I think that if they died a 'natural' death from the Canadian cold she would feel better about getting rid of them.

I am doing really well with Dad's cactus, it is was big already but has pushed over two feet tall since I brought it to Toronto. I have re-potted it, which is super challenging and involves multiple people, tongs, thick gloves, and lots of towels. It is also a pain to move since you can't hold it against your chest and the new pot is quite heavy. On the most recent move I got cut by one of the spikes and it bled forever.

Besides knowing that the spikes can be dangerous, there isn't much I really understood about the plant. I asked one of Jason's friends who is exceptionally knowledgeable about succulents (which cacti are.) I sent him some photos and he has said that it is for sure a Cereus cactus, which I want to pronounce as Serious Cactus, but that isn't the correct pronunciation unfortunately.

He also guesses that more specifically it is a cereus monstrose, which is an Apple Cactus. This is mainly in Peru and gets really great flowers, though mine never has. It can grow super tall so I am hoping to keep tending it well (even though it is a challenge to have in the house because of the spikes) so that it can get really big.