'Till death do us part'

[Ernie]

Thank you bobblackbird. I thought about the sad stories of plant losses this winter and considered how to relate them to Februarys topic. I hope the following topic is relevant.
Any cactus or succulent that would be the last one you would ever consider parting with or would hurt the most if it succumbed to our weather or just ran out of steam and died. Maybe explain why it means so much. Maybe its a plant from someone special or one that you grew from seed but whatever is special to you.

[eduart2]

Well, my old Austrocylindropuntia pachypus simply died in 2018 after I moved house and it couldn't accommodate with the new growing conditions (which were not optimal, to be honest). However, it wanted to live...

This is Austrocylindropuntia pachypus back in 2006.

[Ernie]

To help attract some photos. Its valentines day tomorrow so any cacti/succulent with red prominent.

[Ernie]

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Austrocylindropuntia pachypus.jpg

Well, my old Austrocylindropuntia pachypus simply died in 2018 after I moved house and it couldn't accommodate with the new growing conditions (which were not optimal, to be honest). However, it wanted to live...

This is Austrocylindropuntia pachypus back in 2006.

C055-2006-03-Opuntia pachypus.jpg

Excellent! Interesting story and photos.

[SimonT]

This was a plant of the well-known Mammillaria guelzowiana var splendens.
I was really happy with this plant. OK I suspect purists might consider it grows a little diffuse under my growth conditions, but it flowered for a long period over the summers I had it and usually with another flush each Autumn.

Sadly, I had a small number of plants develop mealy last year and this was one of those attacked. The plant got sent into isolation to a cold-frame for extensive rehab, which ended up including -7oC cold spells over winter and treatment with a whole set of domestically available "pesticides". I think the cold eventually killed the pests and the plant. It still looks pretty good as a dead plant though?

Would I treat another plant in the same way? Yes! I'd not seen a mealy infection for decades previously and I want to wipe them out completely again.
Would I grow this plant again, despite the sharp hooked spines, Yes! Maybe if I grow from seed I might even find a plant without the hooks...safer for life indoors.

[rodsmith]

I grew this Trichocereus spachianus from seed sown in 1975 and it grew steadily to about 12 inches tall until 2009 when I must have overwatered it and it rotted. I cut off the top 4 inches or so and managed to re-root it. In 2013 it flowered - the only time it has donw so. It has grown slowly for me and has now reached almost 12 inches tall again but this time with several offshoots. I live in hope that it will flower again. I had good results from my 1975 seed aowing but over the years all other cacti from the batch have succumbed in one way or another so this is my one and only remaining original plant.

[Ernie]

One can only judge what is presented and once again a topic I pick has not been well supported however the entries have interested me. Simons story about his Mammillaria is informative and I like it. Rod Smith as usual submits very good photographs this time accompanied by a story which is interesting. The picture of the flower is very good. Eduart2's story about his Austrocylindropuntia fascinates me and shows there can be life after death! His plant simply did not want to die. The photograph of the plant before it died is very nicely presented. Background out of focus as it should be allowing attention to be drawn to the plant. One niggle point is for me, I would have made sure fingers holding the pot were not in view.
I have decided the winner is our friend from down under Eduart2. He is from our extended world wide community and aside from the merits of his photograph and story it will be good to see what he picks as a subject for March. I will plod on entering and if lucky enough to win again in the future I will try and pick a subject that attracts more entries. Over to you Eduart2.