I ordered my Echinopsis hertrichiana from Huntington Gardens in 2020. It sort of sat the first couple of years, didn’t grow much, finally bloomed a couple of years ago. The last few years it has happily made babies, grown, and bloomed.
I took one of the babies off and planted it last year. This year it bloomed, even outdid the parent plant with three blooms at once.
This plant is native to Peru, and in 1933 it was identified as Lobivia hertrichiana and named after American William Hertrich who became the curator of the Huntington Botanical Gardens in California. Then, in 1991, David R. Hunt transferred the species to the genus Echinopsis. I found no explanation as to why the change, but I would guess it was based on the study of cactus cells’ DNA and such with high-powered microscopes that were not available back in 1933. This cactus grows in Andean valleys, and its native population is declining due to tourist disturbances and illegal collections.
Mine seems to like where it is now, and I plan to harvest and root more of those small ones. I may try some in the ground out in the cactus garden when they get bigger, but I am not sure they will be cold hardy here.
The flowers are striking, so I am glad I ordered it when it was offered in the Cactus and Succulent Journal back in 2020.
If they do well, I might even have some to share.
Recent Comments