Tucson artist Greg Corman is fine with plants sitting in a garden looking pretty, but believes garden art should work for a living. He'll illustrate ways you can incorporate art in the landscape so it does double duty as planters, seating, walkways and other amenities that make life better for you and for local wildlife too. Greg Corman is a sculptor and landscape designer in Tucson. His art work is primarily functional and includes wooden vessels, tables, benches and bee habitats: he creates most of them from recycled lumber and steel, found objects, and chunks of wood rescued from the firewood pile. Please join us for a great evening presentation and much, much more. Enjoy sharing your thoughts and ideas with many others who enjoy growing, collecting and studying cactus and other succulents! Greg Corman's web site is at: Gardening Insights, Inc.

Ferocactus pilosus

Spring brings a very showy (but smallish) flower and vivid spination in Ferocactus pilosus, native to the San Luis Potosi region of Mexico. The red spines are often very thick and robust in better specimens, many of which are readily available from our member nurseries. The spination quality is best when grown in full sun, although our piercing summer sun and low humidity can cause some discoloration of tissue and sunburn. A reasonable compromise is to place the plant on the extreme south edge of the drip line of a Palo Verde such that the plant is in full sun most months of the year excepting three or four weeks on either side of the summer solstice. Older plants will often grow offsets. Specimens in my yard appear to have withstood the extreme cold of this winter, but I am aware of some casualties in other parts of town. In any event , this species is a must have for the Ferocactus aficionado.