Shady Characters

Busted!

Caught in the act of impersonating some bad, bad dudes, these two specimens reach for the sky. They would’ve gotten away scott-free except for their penchant for striking retro footwear. When first picked up at a Bonnie Reynolds neighborhood container plant sale almost a year ago (see post here), Lefty was prickly but well-rounded … since then he’s stretched out in ways no one ever expected and now brandishes three new pointy arms! On the right …

Not so tough

… his well-coiffed sidekick has a few aliases, Opuntia subulata mostrose minor, to be exact. Part of a much bigger crested family (see post here), he recently broke away from them while I was moving things around in the garden. Lefty’s mean-green fluted container is original, while  Ol’ Opuntia’s craggy perch is a recent ebay acquisition I couldn’t refuse. Both will serve good long sentences in these perfectly complementary vintage holding tanks.