Comments on: Prickly Beauties http://turnerphotographics.com/blog/2010/05/20/prickly-beauties/ Gardens, Northwest native plants, and photography. Sat, 19 May 2012 13:24:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Mark http://turnerphotographics.com/blog/2010/05/20/prickly-beauties/comment-page-1/#comment-2756 Mark Wed, 26 May 2010 19:19:09 +0000 http://turnerphotographics.com/blog/?p=721#comment-2756 Barbara, it really is sad that people dig up plants from the wild to take home with them. Cacti seem to be particularly prone to predation, and unless given just the right conditions they're likely to die in a garden. It's much better to judiciously collect a little seed with land owner permission and start from the beginning. But we live in a world where we want instant gratification. Barbara, it really is sad that people dig up plants from the wild to take home with them. Cacti seem to be particularly prone to predation, and unless given just the right conditions they’re likely to die in a garden. It’s much better to judiciously collect a little seed with land owner permission and start from the beginning. But we live in a world where we want instant gratification.

]]> By: Barbara Halliday http://turnerphotographics.com/blog/2010/05/20/prickly-beauties/comment-page-1/#comment-2747 Barbara Halliday Fri, 21 May 2010 21:11:17 +0000 http://turnerphotographics.com/blog/?p=721#comment-2747 Hello Mark, We enjoyed seeing your photos taken in the Spring Basin Wilderness, and that link led here to your blog. Glenn photographed this Hedgehog at the Painted Hills in 1991--then it was called Pediocactus simpsonii var. robustior. Earlier, when we lived in Utah, Glenn had photographed a WHITE pediocactus near Duchesne also called Pediocactus simpsonii var. robustior. He's not surprised that the John Day area hedgehog was given a new name--the two cacti were fairly different. We have a sad story about a wonderful specimen of this Hedgehog that we were guided to at the Painted Hills. A park ranger, seeing we were interested in photographing the hedgehogs, showed us this incredible plant--a mound between two and three feet across, and covered with these brilliant cerese-pink blossoms. We returned a year or two later and sought out this specimen--only to find it had been ripped from the soil, just a few forlorn pieces still scattered there. I guess the moral of the story is--if you know of something very special, don't talk about it! I'm sure the park ranger regretted having probably told many visitors about this particular plant. Thanks for sharing your fine photography! Barbara and Glenn Halliday (who contributed an Opuntia fragilis (also from the Painted Hills) to your book, WILDFLOWERS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. Hello Mark,
We enjoyed seeing your photos taken in the Spring Basin Wilderness, and that link led here to your blog. Glenn photographed this Hedgehog at the Painted Hills in 1991–then it was called Pediocactus simpsonii var. robustior. Earlier, when we lived in Utah, Glenn had photographed a WHITE pediocactus near Duchesne also called Pediocactus simpsonii var. robustior. He’s not surprised that the John Day area hedgehog was given a new name–the two cacti were fairly different.

We have a sad story about a wonderful specimen of this Hedgehog that we were guided to at the Painted Hills. A park ranger, seeing we were interested in photographing the hedgehogs, showed us this incredible plant–a mound between two and three feet across, and covered with these brilliant cerese-pink blossoms. We returned a year or two later and sought out this specimen–only to find it had been ripped from the soil, just a few forlorn pieces still scattered there. I guess the moral of the story is–if you know of something very special, don’t talk about it! I’m sure the park ranger regretted having probably told many visitors about this particular plant.

Thanks for sharing your fine photography!

Barbara and Glenn Halliday (who contributed an Opuntia fragilis (also from the Painted Hills) to your book, WILDFLOWERS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.

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