Cactus Garden
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Harry Dubas in the CBG
cacti garden
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Volunteer Harry Dubas
planted the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens’ (CBG) cactus garden in 1994 and has
maintained it since. Dubas grew up on a farm near Elyria, Nebraska. Though
there were no cacti growing near his boyhood home, Dubas saw his fair share
on the Wyoming plains as he worked for the Union since 1965. Now retired,
Dubas and his wife, Betty, settled in Cheyenne in 1993. “We love it here,
though we travel south to explore the warmer desert climates as often as we
can,” said Dubas
It was in the early 80’s that Dubas first became interested in cacti after
visiting several botanic gardens that featured extensive cacti displays.
Touring Arizona and other southern states helped to spur on his interest. “I
just like the desert landscape,” he said.
Dubas started his first
cacti and wildflower garden while living in Rawlins, WY. “I am a wildflower
and cactus nut! Wildflowers are easier to take care of than other
ornamentals because of their propensity for self-seeding and once the cacti
are established, they don’t take much care either. All you do is start with
one and they multiply and keep growing and growing ,” said Dubas. In Rawlins
he grew mostly prickly pear along with a few mound or ball cactus.
Besides the
garden at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, Dubas also maintains a small cactus
garden at his home. The garden features hedgehog and other slow growing
cacti that average only a centimeter per year. By sticking to the slower
growing cacti, a greater variety can be featured in a smaller space.
Dubas also grows several prickly pear cacti which are fast growing and
multiply rapidly. Most prickly pears are started from cuttings, purchased
from greenhouses or cacti dealers in Arizona. “I will buy cactus from
parking lot
vendors or ask a rancher or person that had them in their garden for a
start. People are happy to offer a start because the prickly pear grows so
fast. I’ve also grown some from seed but this is a lengthy process,” said
Dubas.
Dubas enjoys growing
hedgehog-type, or mound cacti at his home. While none are on display outside
at the CBG exterior cacti garden, there are a few growing inside the
conservatory. The barrel-type cactus is the best known and generally grow
straight up as a single stem. The small, “miniature” barrel-types only reach
around 6 to 8 inches. One mound-type cactus displayed outside at the CBG is
called the Plains ball cactus. Their blooms are bright pink and occur
naturally in the immediate area surrounding Cheyenne.
Dubas’ volunteer career with the CBG began in 1994. He had a number of extra
cacti growing outside his personal garden in an adjacent yard with
permission from the landowner. When the lot sold the new landowner did not
want the cacti
 garden.
Harry approached the CBG about preserving his collection. It has since been
a wonderful addition for the Gardens with Harry volunteering his expertise
and time in the regular maintenance of the bed. The site chosen for the new
cacti garden was a neglected patch in the southeast corner of the CBG
parking lot. “This area is highly visible and suited to the needs of cacti
being un-irrigated soil, good drainage and great access to the sun. Prior to
the cacti garden, it was an unattractive corner,” said Assistant Director,
Claus Johnson. The first step in establishing the garden was to amend the
area by overlaying a sandy subsoil on top of the existing prairie grass.
Harry also added some coarser gravel-based soil for increased drainage.
The ideal soil for cacti
is about 1/3 coarse gravel, 1/3 sand and 1/3 topsoil. Dubas explains that,
“You must add some type of gravelly soil because good drainage is very
important.” If you let your cacti stand in water or become over watered,
they will eventually rot, so water cacti sparingly. Dubas doesn’t generally
use fertilizer but says it will not hurt.
One advantage of the
poor, dry soil preferred by cacti is that most weeds can’t survive the dry
conditions. This is fortunate because cactus are very hard to weed around.
Dubas uses thick rubber gloves to protect his hands while working with the
cacti. “For years I would get spines in my fingers because they penetrated
the leather gloves, then one day I brought in my ice fishing gloves, and
they are great protection” he said. To prevent the cacti from spreading or
to control their growth you can prune them by snipping them at the joints.
Winter protection is also important. At the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, Dubas
covers the cacti beds with burlap to protect them from the famous Cheyenne
winter wind. “They’d probably survive if not covered, but they would
definitely get windburn on the edges of their pads. This year they are not
entirely covered so I can test a small patch to see if they will acclimate.”
explained Dubas.
At the CBG the
prickly pear cacti bloom mid-June to the first week in July. Each flower
only blooms for one day, but each plant can have up to 150 buds. They can be
quite showy over a number of days. One cactus may have twenty-five blooms in
one day. If the plants bloom in the afternoon on a cloudy day, they may
bloom again the next day. One must have a love for cacti to go through the
work for such a short bloom season, but they have a beautiful reward.
Next time you visit the Gardens be sure to watch the changes in the cactus
garden over the seasons. If you see Harry, tell him thanks for the great
show. Also, check out the more tropical and unusual cacti and succulents on
display inside the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens conservatory.
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