marla - 9-9-2004 at 10:37 AM
Somebody is selling a cardon cactus on ebay. Aren't those a protected species?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=432234910...
Mexitron - 9-9-2004 at 12:07 PM
Marla--they're only selling nursery grown Cardons--and there's tens of thousands of those on the market. Full grown specimens in Baja are illegal to
take if they're in the central desert park..... as far as I know, although once I did see a crane and two trucks digging up a thirty footer with about
ten trunks on the road to BOLA. Don't know where they took it.
marla - 9-9-2004 at 01:53 PM
Well good then I think I want one! Of course I'll be dead before it reaches its full height 
David K - 9-9-2004 at 06:19 PM
I had a 'pet boojum' for 18 years... termites got into the container it was growing in and killed my baby! It had grown about 4 inches in that time
and each year grew twigs, leaves, flowers, and defoliate to a bare trunk, again.
Mexitron - 9-9-2004 at 06:53 PM
Cardons will grow pretty fast for you if they get lots of heat and water.......boojums too--saw a strange looking one at a nursery one time, asked the
owner about it--he said a man from Arizona dug up a 5 foot boojum in Baja--smuggled it across the border in his RV and planted it in his lawn in
Phoenix!! This nurseryman bought it from him after it had grown about 5 feet in three years from all the water......
Also, when the weather is cold keep them on the dry side or they'll rot.
marla - 9-10-2004 at 11:25 AM
Hmm well I was going to plant it at my house in Joshua Tree, but it freezes there occasionally in the winter. I wonder if it would kill it....
Mexitron - 9-10-2004 at 11:35 AM
Yah, those cold winters would probably do a Cardon in....I think they're good to around 25 degrees....try some of the Hedgehog cactii--one variety
grows at 9,000 feet in the San Pedro Martir Mountains. Saguaros might take a bit more cold, but not Joshua Tree.....but what elevation are you at?
marla - 9-10-2004 at 11:48 AM
That house is not high, it's about 2500 feet there so it doesnt freeze that often...
Mexitron - 9-10-2004 at 12:01 PM
Give one a try and plant on sunny side of the house and as close to the house as is possible(to provide some radiant heat in wintertime)....good luck!
Hey, how 'bout this Marla?
John M - 9-10-2004 at 03:49 PM
When we were living in AZ someone had wrapped christmas lights around their Saguaro to keep it warm. Looked real cool around Christmas, thing is their
"Christmas" lasted til warmer March weather. Have you stopped at the nursery in marooongo Valley, on the right as you are heading toward Joshua Tree?
This is the place that has all the pots in front, along the fence. They used to have a real nice stock at the rear of the place. Always got good
advice there as well. And their elevation is just a bit higher, and colder than J.T. - John M.
Pappy Jon - 9-10-2004 at 05:34 PM
Cardons and cerios are easy to grow, just slow. I grew them many years ago. A buddy has a cerio in his backyard. I gave it to him when it was about
the diameter of a pencil. You can now set a chair underneath. Ok, if you trim off the lateral branches. It's probably 6 feet tall and very happy in
Palm Springs.
Cardons are way slow. I grew a bunch of them from seed. The seed had gone through a coyote and I had hundreds come up. I've been at my current garden
for 9 years. I brought one with me and it's only about a foot tall. I think had I left it in California it would have been twice that tall. I need to
check the plants in Palm Desert. They should be larger.
Marla, try them. I know somebody that grows Baja plants in Pinyon, up the highway from Palm Desert. She does bring some things in during the winter,
and has a lath house. She is about 2800 feet. During the freeze of 1990 I think some plants were lost. I know the elephant trees froze big time in
Palm Desert, but survived (@26F).
marla - 9-10-2004 at 05:41 PM
Thanks! Well I have two Palo Verde trees on that property and they grow fine. I would love to have a cirio maybe I can find one....John, I have always
driven past that Dig Your Own Cactus place but never stopped. I heard the owners are really nice people so I should check them out.