The Iowa Cactus Gardener
It was the height of the COVID-19 shutdown and I was glued to my phone, looking for hits of dopamine. I fell deep into the houseplant community, though not to the point that I really knew what I was doing. I just needed green. And the more tones and varying shapes I could collect, the better. That led me to hunt down a fishbone cactus, also called a ric-rac cactus. The scientific name is Disocactus anguilger. Its long, jagged fronds look like a cartoon drawing of what’s leftover from a cat’s plate of fish. It was the missing piece in my arrangement of succulents, collected just because I like the way they looked. I couldn’t guarantee their safety in my care, though I hadn’t killed any in the few months I’d been amassing them. I’d even driven to the middle of farm country in western Wisconsin to pick up a matching vintage circular wire plant stand to join its cousin already taking over my window seat in Minneapolis. I couldn’t browse the thrift stores in-person anymore, but I could shop the online marketplace and zero-in on my prey.
But I couldn’t bring myself to pay the $80 someone was asking for their mature ric-rac cactus just over in a Saint Paul suburb. So, I started calling local plant stores. I was about to send my mom to a woman outside of Des Moines whose listing showed promising cuttings in leica, but the logistics (and promises) didn’t give me confidence.
Finally, in conversation with her friend and fellow library-board member, one day Mom mentioned that I was on the hunt for this specific cactus. Dick just happened to have an entire greenhouse attached to his garage in Norwalk. It was full of exquisite cactus and succulent specimens. He had one for me! He said we were welcome to tour his greenhouse next time we were in town.
This piece came out of that visit and I hope to gift Dick with the original soon. My beloved Disocactus anguilger sits at the edge of the foreground, dark green and jagged. And so much more important to me than what I could have picked up at the big box store.
