Tag Archives: Cactus

another NEW update to our NP bucket list

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Happy Saturday!

2024 seems to be our year of visiting National Parks. If all goes well, we’ll visit 9 this year. Last weekend we visited Saguaro National Park. Perfect weather…not too hot! It’s amazing how many different varieties of cactus there are. About 2000! Here are a few of the shots I captured:

I leave you with this last one that I can’t help saying Peace Baby. :o)

Have a great day. I hope you learn or do something NEW!

Here’s my official NP bucket list:

LIST OF US NATIONAL PARKS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER (63 total)

  • Acadia National Park {done}
  • Arches National Park {done}
  • Badlands National Park
  • Big Bend National Park
  • Biscayne National Park {done}
  • Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park {done}
  • Bryce Canyon National Park {done}
  • Canyonlands National Park {done}
  • Capitol Reef National Park {done}
  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park
  • Channel Islands National Park
  • Congaree National Park
  • Crater Lake National Park
  • Cuyahoga Valley National Park
  • Death Valley National Park
  • Denali National Park and Preserve
  • Dry Tortugas National Park
  • Everglades National Park {done}
  • Gates of the Arctic National Park
  • Gateway Arch National Park 
  • Glacier National Park
  • Glacier Bay National Park
  • Grand Canyon National Park {done}
  • Grand Teton National Park {done}
  • Great Basin National Park
  • Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park {done}
  • Guadalupe Mountains National Park
  • Haleakala National Park
  • Hawaii Volcanoes National Park {done}
  • Hot Springs National Park
  • Indiana Dunes National Park
  • Isle Royale National Park
  • Joshua Tree National Park
  • Katmai National Park and Preserve
  • Kenai Fjords National Park
  • Kings Canyon National Park {done}
  • Kobuk Valley National Park
  • Lake Clark National Park
  • Lassen Volcanic National Park {done}
  • Mammoth Cave National Park
  • Mesa Verde National Park {done}
  • Mount Rainier National Park
  • National Park of American Samoa
  • New River Gorge National Park 
  • North Cascades National Park
  • Olympic National Park
  • Petrified Forest National Park
  • Pinnacles National Park
  • Redwood National Park {done}
  • Rocky Mountain National Park {done}
  • Saguaro National Park {done}
  • Sequoia National Park {done}
  • Shenandoah National Park
  • Theodore Roosevelt National Park
  • Virgin Islands National Park
  • Voyageurs National Park
  • White Sands National Park 
  • Wind Cave National Park
  • Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
  • Yellowstone National Park {done}
  • Yosemite National Park {done}
  • Zion National Park {done}

Learning NEW things about cactus

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Happy Wednesday!

I’ve learned something NEW! The difference between Christmas Cactus and Thanksgiving Cactus!

I had to take a photo of my Thanksgiving Cactus plant alongside a photo of my mother to document that I have not let her plant die (yet)….and it actually bloomed this year! Yeah!

Mom passed away in 2020, and she loved this plant. She always called it a Christmas Cactus though. After she died, we divided her large plant into many starts for all her children and some of her grandchildren (whoever wanted a start and thought they’d be able to keep it alive!). At that time, someone must have done some research and we found out the mom’s Christmas Cactus was actually a Thanksgiving Cactus. Here’s a great website that explains the difference {HERE}.

Unfortunately, garden centers often mislabel these two different plants. That was probably the reason mom said it was a Christmas Cactus, even though it bloomed closer to Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Cactus have segments that look serrated or toothed with pointy spines. Christmas cactus have rounded, more scalloped edge leaves.

Also, Thanksgiving cactus anthers are yellow and Christmas cactus anthers are pink to purplish-brown.

So! Now we know and we’ll use the correct term and think of mom every Thanksgiving as our plants are blooming.

Have a great day! Do or learn something new!