Today this post is about two amazing cactus that I am growing. The cactus is called Old Man of the Andes. And, there is a story about how I ended up with this cactus!
It was 2001 and I was living in an apartment complex in a corner unit on the 5th floor. Who would think living on the 5th floor of a building that one would have issues with squirrels? Well, I did! I had a huge deck on which I had a variety of lovely flowering plants. It was a cheery place to sit. I came home one day, shortly after having moved in, only to discover that something had been on my deck and uprooted all of my plants! It looked like a war zone what with plants laying on the decking and holes in the soil where the plants used to be.
I cleaned it all up, re-potted everything, and sat to have an evening cocktail when I spied a squirrel on my deck. He started digging everything up again! This was the beginning of my ongoing battle! I quickly chased him off.
The next day, I headed to the nursery to find something to deter this squirrel, who I named G.I. Joe due to the war zone he left behind. I left there with a spray bottle of fox urine. This was guaranteed to keep this critter away! Well, G.I. Joe was not deterred by the fox urine. After all, he probably figured out that fox do not live on decks five floors up!
The battle raged on! My next plan of attack was cayenne pepper. Figuring a good whiff of this up his nose would bother him, or so I was told, one morning before going to work I liberally spread cayenne around all my plants. I was satisfied that this would do it! When I returned home that night I checked the deck only to find plants scattered once again all over my deck.
My next plan of attack was to place very spiny cactus on the deck railing. This is when I bought the Old Man of the Andes. The spines on this plant are long and sharp!
I placed these cactus, in separate pots back then, on either end of the railing. And, I sprayed them with fox urine and scattered more cayenne pepper around these plants. They seemed to work, until several days later when sitting in my living room I noticed the squirrel crawling on the wall right around the cactus!
Needless to say, I gave up on having nice plants on my deck, but I did end up with these wonderful cactus. These two are now 12 years old!
These plants originate from the Andes Mountains. They can take the cold and the heat, which is one of the reasons they do well here in the Sierra Foothills. While they look hairy, those hairs are really another type of spine that protects the plant from the cold and the heat!
Well, I hope that you enjoyed the story! Thanks for stopping by today and go out and have a terrific Tuesday!
He’s a beauty! And a great story, too! I do have quite a few cacti and a large collection of succulents. They are so rewarding, but despite their tough expressions, they do require care. I have little blankets for them when it gets too cold. 🙂
They sure are! I was given a little pot with a mix of succulents over the summer and this now resides in our screened in patio room to protect it…
Persistent squirrel!
As I said…G.I.Joe! He was appropriately named!
Squirly squirrels! The fox urine probably wasn’t effective as an urban squirrel probably didn’t know what a fox was. However, you did get some good looking cacti out of your battles, so in the long run you won.
I finally did!
Interesting story about your battle with G.I. Joe and Old Man of the Andes cactus. Thank you for sharing.
I still battle squirrels….but more than that! It is now ground squirrels, tree squirrels, gophers, moles and voles…not to mention the deer, the fox, and the rabbits!
Unique-looking cactus!
They are beautiful. I discovered that these babies, yes babies at 12 years old, can reach 10 feet tall! Holy moley! They are supposed to get flowers that reports indicate are anywhere between lavender to magenta in late spring. Maybe I will see them bloom this year!