Las Vegas

[Mike]

Hi,

We are driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas - any cactus places/vendors along the way or L.V.? Thanks much, Mike

[Buck Hemenway]

Mike,

Turners in North Las Vegas has a nice selection of plants.

[daiv]

Hey Mike,
I don't know of any nursuries along that route, but keep an eye out for the Ferocactus cylindraceus along the way!

Daiv

[peterb]

Hi Mike- I love the Mojave desert areas around Vegas and between LA and there. It's chilly this time of year but it's still some of the most impressive desert terrain in the US. Poke around from near Barstow (for example, and anywhere along 15 from then on) for Sclerocacti, Echinocactus polycephalus, johnsonii and E. trigloch. mojavensis, O. basilaris, etc., etc.

peterb

[Mike]

Thanks guys. Turners was great, we got four large ones - Echinocactus polycephalus and F glaucescens, Denmoza rhodacantha and F robustus clump. Also some small ones posted in the ID secion including the Frailea that led to a bit of a spat.

Saw one F cylindraceus along the road , lots of Opuntia, excobaria, more Joshua trees than Joshua tree Nat. park. Alos an opuntia type I have posted and can't ID. Mike

[peterb]

hey Mike-

How hot and dry can you keep that E. polycephalus over the summer? Any way to keep it cool over the winter? Those are the conditions it seems to prefer. Baking, really awful dry heat with cool nights in the summer and cold nights in winter. I'll be interested to hear how it fares in LA (if that's where you live).

Peterb

[Buck Hemenway]

They're hard to keep alive anywhere in the LA basin. You're right Peter, too warm in the winter not hot enough in the summer and too wet altogether.

[daiv]

Yeah, they grow like crazy in Death Valley, NP. With temperature extremes as described..