Echinopsis 'Stars and Stripes'
Echinopsis 'Stars and Stripes is a hybrid Echinopsis grown for its large, showy flowers. It belongs to the celebrated line of ornamental Echinopsis hybrids raised by Harry Johnson at Johnson Cactus Gardens — the "Paramount" hybrids — the stock that also underpins the later Schick hybrids and that produced many of the free-flowering, brightly coloured forms popular with collectors today.
Description
Like most hybrid Echinopsis, 'Stars and Stripes' forms a green, ribbed, globular to shortly columnar body that clusters with age, producing offsets around the base. The stem is armed with short spines along the ribs, but the plant is grown almost entirely for its flowers rather than its form.
The blooms are the whole point: large, funnel-shaped and opening wide, carried on a long tube that rises from the side of the stem. They are pink to mauve, in the colour range typical of the Paramount hybrids. As with the genus generally, individual flowers are relatively short-lived — often lasting only a day or two — but a mature, well-grown plant can throw several flushes of buds across the warmer months.
Cultivation
Care follows that of the parent genus; see Echinopsis for full detail. In brief, 'Stars and Stripes' wants bright light, a fast-draining, mostly mineral mix, and generous water through the growing season with the soil allowed to dry between drinks. Keep it dry and cool over winter to encourage a strong flush of buds the following spring.
Hybrid Echinopsis are among the more forgiving cacti and tolerate more water in summer than many desert species, but they still resent standing wet, especially in cold weather. Bright light and a proper winter rest are the keys to heavy flowering; a plant grown too soft and shaded will stay green and reluctant to bloom. See Watering and Repotting for general technique.
Propagation
Being a named clone, 'Stars and Stripes' is propagated vegetatively so that the flower comes true. The easiest route is to remove the freely produced offsets and root them on a dry, gritty surface once the cut has callused. It can also be grown on its own roots from stem cuttings. Seed will not reproduce the cultivar reliably, as its flowers are a feature of this specific hybrid rather than something that comes true from seed.
See also
- Echinopsis — the parent genus
- Propagation — offsets · Propagation — cuttings · Soil and potting mix · Watering · Repotting