Viva la República

Charlie-Farlie and his latest bit of fluff, Camel Parker-Bowlingalley, were in Spain recently on what was presumably an "official" visit. And I bet they didn't pay for their pre-Easter jaunt, either. Bloodsuckers, like the rest of royalty, wherever they might be. Nobody should be accorded any privileges or advantages, merely because of an accident of birth; such things should be gained through merit and through merit alone. Gordon Bennett, this is 2011, not the Middle Ages, and it really is time we did away with birthright, religion and other such nonsense, the purpose of which is to keep a few rich in their comfortable position and the plebs in their place.

Charlie Farlie and his cohorts are a prime example of why such an antiquated system as royalty should be abolished once and for all. Like almost all of them, he does basically nothing, other than look foolish, but enjoys the income from his lands in Cornwall (and made Camel P-B the Duchess of Cornwall in the meantime) and probably gets a nice back-hander, courtesy of the rest of the tax-payers in the UK, too.

If that weren't enough, his son is now about to get married in a media event that will be blown out of all proportion. The really sad thing, is that those who know of no better will be lining the streets, waving the flags they've paid well over the odds for, and screaming their lungs out as a pathetic gesture of support for the young couple, whose prime duty will be to provide the next generation of leeches.

Then there's Grannybeth shacked up in Buck House. Well, at least she has had more sense than to abdicate in favour of son Charlie Farlie, probably realizing that putting such a plonker on the throne really would be the end of the Windsors (for want of a better name, of course): they got precious close to the end when Banana Spinster's untimely death raised more than a few questions.

Up the republic, I say.

Parodia buiningii

What used to be called Notocactus buiningii is now more properly referred to as Parodia buiningii. (Names and classifications have a habit of changing in the cactus world.)

According to Edward F. Anderson in his encyclopaedic work, The Cactus Family, Parodia buingingii is found close to Santana do Livramento, which is in Brazil, and Rivera, a neighbouring locality in Uruguay. The book also states that the cactus is reported to be rare. Well, it's often seen in the garden centres around here, so perhaps the book refers only to its occurrence in the wild.

This particular specimen is 14 cm in diameter and 9 cm tall, with 15 ribs. It currently shows 12 flower buds, 7 of which are already blooming. Actually, they only bloom when the sun "wakes them up" with a direct hit in the morning, and close up tightly again in the late afternoon, when shade returns to the plant.

Other cacti to show flowers are the members of the Mammillaria and Echinofossulocactus families. There are too many to show all the different varieties, so here are just one from each family.

Gymnocalycium bruchii

This is the first Gymnocalycium in my collection of cacti to flower this year.

The Gymnocalycium bruchii is also known as Gymnocalycium lafandense and originates from the La Falda mountains, part of the Sierra de Cordoba range, in Argentinia, where it grows in rock cracks at a height of about 2000 metres.

It's an easy Gymnocalycium to grow and to propagate and, like almost all Gymnocalyciums, produces beautiful flowers. And as you can see from the second photo, there are plenty of flowers to come:

Neoporteria/Eriosyce…?

It looks impressive, but what is it? At first I thought it might be a Neoporteria senilis (Eriosyce senilis), but I have a feeling that it is too large for that: it has a diameter of 10 cm and a height of 6 cm. It certainly has the nestlike spine structure of an Eriosyce nudus (another alternative name) and, while almost all of the spines are white, a few are brownish-black.

If anyone can help identifying this cactus, I would be most grateful.

Pumpkins, one month on

What a difference a month makes.

If you remember from a previous entry, I had put some pumpkin seeds in pots in the hopes of not having to cart any more of the fruits back from Belgium. They had already germinated and seemed to be getting along well. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to transplant the seedlings to larger pots: four were put together in a very large pot, 43 cm diameter by 35 cm tall, while the remaining five seedlings were spread out in smaller pots.

Eight of the seedlings, including the four you see here, continue to do well, but one seems to be struggling a bit; the runt of the litter, no doubt.

I have no idea if this is considered to be a good way to grow pumpkins, but it's worth a try. Each pot has a bottom layer of lava stones, to promote drainage, with a soil mixture of horse manure and potting compost.

Here Come the Flowers

The first flowers have appeared on the cacti, led, a couple of weeks ago already, by members of the Echinofossulocactus genus, together with Mammillaria. Now, others are in bud, notably a number of Gymnocalicium, whose flower display is always something wonderful. Plenty of succulents, other than cacti, are also flowering. But this week the tiny Turbinicarpus schmidickeanus (?) has come into flower.

The cactus itself is a tad less than 3 cm. in diameter and less than a centimeter tall. It produced five buds, three of which open up in the sunlight to produce a bunch of flowers, the size of which overshadows the body of the cactus.

Croeso i'r Gwesty Quino

Hotel Quino, in Guardamar del Segura, recently reopened after renovations. In the reception area, facing the guests as they enter the hotel, is a panel on which Welcome is written in three different languages, Castillano (commonly referred to simply as Spanish), Valencian, and English.

Ever since I first saw this panel, I have been kidding Joaquin and Javier, the hotel owners, to place a real language, namely Welsh, on the panel, too. And She Who Must Be Obeyed has gently suggested that a slight modification to the English lettering would turn it into what for her would be much more acceptable Dutch.

A few days ago, we picked up some people from Alicante airport and took them to the hotel. Imagine our surprise, when we were met with a Welcome panel which included our requested modifications: Javier had spent the afternoon cutting shapes of letters from magazine pages, in order to adjust the English Welcome into the Dutch Welkom and to spell out the word Croeso (Welcome in Welsh).

Sadly, the modifications to the Welcome panel were only of a passing nature, and it is now back to its three-language poverty. A nice gesture, though, and one that was much appreciated.