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CACTUS RESCUE Can one person make a difference? How about two people? It began with a spring walk in the high desert during cactus blooming season. Coming from Long Island, New York, I was amazed by the beautiful and delicate cactus flowers on plants that were so tough and hardy. Hiking around New Mexico, I saw more and more types of cacti and started planting some in my own yard. Armed with thick leather gloves, barbecue tongs, a Toyota pickup with 200 thousand miles on it and my friend, Joe, we started our quest to collect cactus and in the process learned of the Santa Fe Cholla. Santa Fe Cholla, (Opuntia viridiflora, syn. Cylindropuntia viridiflora), is quite different in shape, size and color bloom from the common Tree Cholla, ( Opuntia imbricata, syn. Cylindropuntia imbricata), which grows throughout New Mexico and in nearby Texas, Arizona and Colorado. Smaller and more bushy, it has a bronze orange to a salmon pink flower, (instead of the typical purple flower of the tree cholla). It is also an endangered species.
After meeting Dave Ferguson, cactus expert and curator of the Rio Grande Botanical Gardens, and learning of the plight of the Santa Fe cholla, it became our mission to see if two total novices could save such a beautiful and worthy plant. Santa Fe is one of two homes to the Santa Fe Cholla where the cactus grows in Cross of the Martyr Park near Fort Marcy. There are approximately only 150 mature plants left in the park. Its second home is 20 miles north in Pojoaque where very few can be found. Why is this plant endangered? Because it sits on prime real estate and its existence is no competition to builders, developers and the public’s lack of knowledge about its plight. Without the park limiting development the Santa Fe cholla could already have been gone. Joe and I started collecting seeds and cuttings and have rooted over a thousand joints. During one visit to the park Joe actually deconstructed a pack rat’s nest of over 200 joints while photographing and collecting seed. We traveled around the state and into Colorado to help spread knowledge about the plant. We’ve taken Santa Fe cholla to the Denver Botanical Garden and to the Bosque del Apache wildlife preserve for inclusion in their cactus gardens. We’ve placed plants via our local flea market, presented plants at a meeting of the New Mexico Mountain Club during a lecture on NM endangered plants, and done small installations in private homes and businesses in the Santa Fe/Albuquerque area. We even had an article on page one of the Colorado Cactus Club newsletters. With numerous Santa Fe Cholla growing in our own yards we hope to eventually complement or exceed the quantity found at Fort Marcy Park. We’re continuing to root plants for distribution to friends, neighbors and interested parties and have supplied plants to nurseries in Colorado and New Mexico. We’ve been very encouraged by the interest people have shown in Santa Fe Cholla once they know about its status as an endangered plant here in NM. Joe and I are not doing this “for profit” but only to ensure the survival of this beautiful cactus. Can two people make a difference? We sure are working on it!
Obie and Joe at Plants of the Southwest nursery John (Obie) Oberhausen is retired US Navy. He came to visit New Mexico about 6 years ago, fell in love with the place and never left. After seeing his first cactus he started collecting and growing them and is a member of both New Mexico and Colorado cactus clubs. There are more than 70 varieties of cactus growing in his yard. When not working cactus he does massage at Body spa.
Visit www.santafebotanicalgarden.org |
