My passion for gardening has now extended to include collecting succulents and cacti so every time I visit a garden centre my first port of call is the succulent and cacti bays. So far choice has been limited as most garden centres and shops sell nigh on the same plants. If anyone knows any specialist centres along the Algarve or Alentejo please let me know.
You can imagine my surprise when I spotted these!
Apparently they are grafted cacti. I am not sure … to me they look grotesque. I never bought one.
What do you think?
Stretching the imagination into the realms of weird horror I wonder if in years to come they will be be grafting a woman’s head onto a man’s body. Or even a dog’s head onto a cat or a dog’s head onto a man!
This post was prompted by the photo challenge prompt Order not by excess vinho.
Piglet in Portugal 
Hi Ak… someone gave me several mystery cuttings of some odd looking cacti and when I checked queen of the night that’s it! I’ve google ‘care of’ and I’ve been overwatering it.
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I went through a phase a few years back of buying new cacti every single time I went to the garden-centre!
But after so many years of being stabbed by their thorns, especially from the larger ones – and we have some HUGE queen of the night ( I think this is what they are called?) – I confine the cacti to a smallish rockery area of the garden.
Succulents are different, although I never buy them anymore but ”nick” a cutting or two if and when I come across any I like.
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Grafted!? I had no idea. Only once have I found these little belle-jolie humanoid cacti in a shop — and I instantly bought one. Weirdness attracts.
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Truly odd looking. But such a clever grafter to be able to make something like and it live.
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I must say I rather like them. But, then, I AM weird.
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*laughing* No you are not weird, Granny. To me it was like grafting and orange onto a fig tree.
And then my imagine just ran away with me!
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I’m very choosy when it comes to cacti. I like the little pretty ones but not so much the great big tough guys. 🙂 We’ve bought a few over there. Some might have been from the flower festival at Estoi but there’s a garden centre near us on the E125 that has them I think?
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Thanks, Jo. Is it a specialist centre? I know there is one down south somewhere…but where is a mystery. Most of the garden centres near us all stock very much the same varieties so I’m looking for something different.
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Not especially Pip. I know they had some tiny unusual ones but it’s quite some time ago. My husband says to contact mediterraneangardeningportugal.org. A lady called Rosie Peddle might be able to help you x
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thanks Jo. I’ll contact her.
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I love succulents, they are very popular in Australia and I have loads in my garden. I wonder if you plant the above cacti how big would they grow?
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Good point, Sami. I never thought to ask that!
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I agree with you. A bit odd looking.
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