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17.1.07

A Strange Way To Grow One


A few days before Christmas I was walking through the greenhouse of a Home Depot and I came across this new way of growing an Amaryllis. At first I couldn't believe what I was seeing it looked like the brain child of a sadistic Amaryllis grower. It reminded me of this one time when I was working in a bonsai nursery and these two older ladies walked in and walked out in a huff but not before I got an earful of how "mean" we were for growing trees in such little pots. When I saw this Amaryllis I had almost the same reaction as those two ladies some years back except I didn't yell at anyone and threaten to call the Arbor Day Foundation.

30 Saguaros uprooted in Tucson

30 uprooted saguaros found on West Ft. Lowell Road

David L. Teibel
Tucson Citizen

A Tucsonan on his way to work Friday said he found about 30 uprooted saguaro cactuses in the desert that he thinks were being stolen for sale. Some of the cactuses were on Saguaro National Park land and some on unincorporated county land, said Gordon McKinley, adding he called 911 Friday morning and met later today with a deputy sheriff and a National Park Service investigator.

Deputies were called to the area near Fort Lowell and Sandario roads around 10:45 a.m. after being contacted by the National Park Service, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, spokeswoman for the sheriff's department.
It was "obvious" someone was trying to steal cactuses from holes that were found and dirt dug out around other cactuses, she said.

(continue reading)

Before I had any interest in Cacti & Succulents I lived for a short while in Northern Arizona and when I would make trips South towards Phoenix I always found the drive to be nice and scenic and sometimes the bends in the roads were enough to make you feel like bringing a change of shorts. But the best part of living there and making that trip South was seeing the first Saguaro in the distance and smiling as the memory of a cartoon, where the Saguaro is made the butt of a joke by an anthropomorphized animal, floods your brain and makes you think of a simpler time.

To me the Saguaro is an American icon up there with the Statue of Liberty and the Hollywood sign and it's removal like this by unscrupulous individuals is just beyond comprehension. I don't think there is a punishment I would think to be too severe for them.