Ahh, yes . . .

I’ve always liked baby pictures, so why should baby cactus be an exception? This is from when the nopales were babies, in 2017. They had just been planted from cuttings out of Carlos and Kate’s back yard.

When they first started growing, I was so excited. But then again, not really, because I knew they would. I’d planted cactus pads in the flower bed behind my apartment, in the early 1980s, and they had grown quickly and easily. Still, I didn’t live there long enough to see them get humongous. It’s probably a good thing I “escaped” when I did, because seriously, I don’t know of any apartment owner who would be thrilled with a giant cactus in the flower bed. As far as I know, they never found out it was me.

By 2019, the baby nopales were getting pretty big.

At one point, they wilted. I never figured out if it was because of too much water or not enough.

Some random closeups from May of 2020.

By April 2021, they were getting pretty big.

In November 2022, I cut them back myself. You can read about that adventure here.

This was December 2022, a month after I trimmed them. I was pretty happy with my “Big Girl” capabilities after that one.

In June of 2023 I took a “detour” into chemotherapy and surgery and was “sidetracked” for about a year and a half. You can read Foster and Panda’s explanation of that here and here. For my version, check out “Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow”. To put it mildly, although my hair wasn’t growing, the nopales were!

By April of 2024, I realized I was going to have to call a professional. I called E & J Sanchez tree service, who had trimmed my pine tree several years before. They did an awesome job, and you can read about it in “Nopales Update” (When Cacti Go Rogue).

This is from April 16, 2024, after the Sanchez brothers had finished. Everyone was satisfied with the finished product. And we knew it would grow back.

One year later, (May 2025) it looked like this. I am not making this up. Apparently trimming nopales back stimulates their growth. You can see how part of it had broken off due to a recent windstorm. By May 28, it was time to call E & J Sanchez again.

Like I’ve said before, they’re experts. While some of the workers trimmed a couple of trees that needed attention, the others tackled the cactus and the yucca (AKA the spiky plant).

Once again, the finished product. You can’t put cactus in the wood shredders they use for tree branches, but fortunately, it was the week of our city’s twice-a-year curbside pickup. And don’t worry, they’ll grow back.