A saguaro you won't believe...

Upon rare occasions, we come across something that is just too beautiful that need be shared with others. There are days I feel guilty about this monster being hidden in my back yard. At one point my wife and I talked to a casino operator about taking our wall down and using it at the entrance to their properties. Fortunately it was too large to even try and move.

I've taken a picture of it and figured perhaps on TOSC it would get at least a shot at being seen by those stopping by. Whenever anyone comes by, they always are astounded by both its height, width and number of massive arms. Like before, click on the picture to get a better look at it:



Just so you won't hurt yourself trying to turn your computer monitor on its side, here's a different picture taken upright;

 

Verrry Funnny
O.K. I couldn't resist looking at 1st picture.

I presume it has been there since house was built.

 

That is one big cactus. Probably make the book or world records for saguaro's.

 

Thanks for sharing your Tall Beauty, BPearson
Awesome photo of that Saguaro -- how tall do you think it actually is and please, how much do you think it weighs !!! ???? Does it bloom in Spring ? Bet it is old-old-old !

Sometimes those beauties can topple during a storm. This one that fell in 2010 was a neighbor's...left a busted block wall and big mess.

 

I wondered about that Anita, and you have the pics to prove it. Sad, that looked like a beauty too.

 

Spot on Anita Mae; those buggers are way heavy and this one is off the charts. With 50 plus arms and another dozen that have been cut off, the thing is a beast. The oddity is it grows arms trying to counter balance it. People always ask the age, there's an old wives tale on how to figure the age by the number of arms. No idea but the house was built in 73 so who knows how long before that?

The height? Somewhere between 20 and 25 feet.

 

Their skeletons have a beauty of their own if left in an area of a yard like a fallen warrior exposing an interior of ribs and holes and then some of the arms may sprout too. A neighbor took one that had fallen, waited some years for nature to take its course and have it become a skeletonized one, dug a hole, supported it with metal rings to keep the ribs together, and put a flower pot at the top where birds like to perch. Even smaller skeleton portions can be used to enhance a desert landscape scene for your yard, just as people use fallen logs in other parts of the country.

 

My neighbor across the street had a huge one with many arms, a wind storm brought it down onto the golf course. I was amazed how shallow the root system on that thing was....I wonder if the "domesticated" saguaro have smaller root systems because they are watered more often than those in the desert.

 

The roots for all of them are really disproportionately small, but that's bec. their bodies perform what roots do in other plants, as in water transport and storage. Xeriscape experts say most of the cacti mortalities out here are due to overwatering. When you walk around and see those accordion-like bodies on cacti stretched out rather than closer together, chances are it is being over-watered. You can also tell from a rather bloated look of some them, most noticeable with saguaros. You'll also see the opposite being true sometimes with people leaving all their cacti to fend for themselves and then have them dry up. We have to use some common sense and know that if we're in a drought and temps are in upper triple digits for weeks, chances are your cacti could use a little help. Sadly, ones planted along T-bird by PRIDES last year shriveled up since they were just babes, and those always will reguire more vigilance.

 

I have a couple dime store cacti planted in my baby plant nurseru under the pepper tree and I swear they have almost no root system, they seem tobe growing almost on top of the dirt. But, they are healthy and manage a few inches of growth every year.

 

I didn't know about the skeletons. I had to google and found a few good pics. here's one

 

very cool. thanks for posting about that, jack

 

Thanks for the picture, I wasn't sure what a saguaro skeleton would look like.....they are actually quite beautiful.

 

Great pic you found! Thanks for enhancing the info with it. Smaller sections can be used for many a craft project like lamps and desk accessories, vases for dry flowers, etc.

 

I actually have two of those inside my family room -- I use them as a holder for artificial plants. looks unique.
Friends of mine have a large one outside of their home -- and use it as a planter for a live plant !

 

Sounds like we have a saguaro skeleton fan club now--I can see it now, T-shirts with saguaros with their arms raised up saying, "save our skeletons!" LOL

 

Here are my "Skeletons" --- I have two that I use for planters for my artificial plants.
Purchased them at a Flea Market Type Place -- probably 15 years ago.
I use body or hand lotion to keep the wood from getting brittle....better than lemon oil !



:distant:



Let me know when the T Shirts go on sale Suncityjack - - would be a hit !..

:BP should make tshirts with a pic of his GIANT on it ! ! and "They saw it on TOSC" written words ! !
--- I can see those million $$$ comin' in ! !

There should be a saguaro icon ! ! :topsy_turvy:

 

Millions? Cool. Then I won't need/want to win the $400 million dollar power ball jackpot on Weds night.

 

The skeleton crew

 

Anita Mae, Those sure are great planters! Like the tip on the care of the wood too. No wonder they look good and not parched.
Bill, Please win the money anyway....SC would name a new community hub/clubhouse/"living-room" or fine arts center after you should you want to put some of it to work!
Cynthia, cute. Everyone out here does symbols with the saguaro, but they don't usually show it without its skin on, so we'd be unique. Sounds kinda bad-boy too, yeah, we be the skeleton crew LOL