Years ago I went to the annual Home and Garden Show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds and bought a cactus. The booth I got it from had tons of really cool specimens. This was long enough ago that money was tight for me, so I had to choose only one. I chose a perfectly round ball of a cactus. In fact, it was called a Baseball Cactus, or Euphorbia obesa. Besides being cool looking, it was also a Euphorbia, which meant it was in the same family as poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima).
Over the years, it has had a place of honor on my kitchen windowsill. It has bloomed many times. It also elongated a little, so it looked more like a pear than a baseball. This is natural, I’m told.
A couple of weeks ago, a blotch appeared on the side of the cactus. Over time, the blotch turned into a dead spot and slowly spread. Yesterday I noticed there was only a small part that was still green. The cactus is dead. It’s been a good eight(?) years.
But how exciting! Now I get to shop for a new windowsill plant! Woo hoo!
*observing a moment of silence* It’s not feeling very Euphoric now, is it? Will you do an autopsy, or are you afraid of what’s inside?
On a different note, are those pictures on your wall in the reflection?
I think it’s the fridge. But I’m inventing that.
It looks like he’s saying, “feed me Seymour”.
Brad, you probably don’t remember this, but it was just a few weeks ago that I looked at that plant and said, “Is that dead?” And you said, “No!!” My successful plant stories are far & in between to be sure, but I apparently know dead or approacing dead very well. (But I do sincerely apoloize if just one look from me killed it)
[How did I look the other evening, Dr. Peggy? Is there cause for worry?? Talk about people with super powers!]
Condolences on your loss, sir, but if you really want a reason to go plant shopping, I have a suggestion: leave all your currently-alive specimens over here for a few days. Between the crazy 5-month-old cat who has trashed most of ours in a matter of weeks, and my usual brown thumb overall, they won’t stand a chance!