Icon meme

[cactuswatcher]

Begun by the ever-vivacious ann1962 and inspired by the thought-provoking masqthephlsphr

Since I've got a free account I only get to have three icons at once. Hence I don't change them very often.

This one, my default, is not a cactus or an artichoke as someone once thought. It's an Agave parryi truncata. It is indeed bluish-green. I like it, because it's a pretty plant. When I took the picture a year ago in the winter it was about the size of a dinner plate. It's bigger now and has a baby sucker agave growing nearby. When it gets bigger I'll move the little one some place else in the yard so it will have plenty of space to grow. I have another one like this in the front yard, and several other kinds of agave around the place. Their waxy leaves go well with my cacti and the softer leafed yucca that I have. Despite their nickname 'century plants' agaves don't live as long as many other desert plants. But the suckers or offsets as they are called in polite circles will keep them growing in areas where the seeds will refuse to germinate.

Comments

[ann1962]

*g*

I like your icon very much.

Have you ever seen an artichoke bloom? They are such a waste as a vegetable (a butter delivery device is all), they should only be used as flowers IMO.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Like all thistles, artichokes have beautiful flowers for such a nasty looking plant. Personally I love to eat artichokes with or without butter.

;o)

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

I love artichokes, with a really nice mayonnaise. I grew artichokes in my garden one year (when I had a little plot in a community garden), and I was really impressed by the beauty of the flower.
I like your cactus. It's pretty in a don't touch me kind of way.