Alien Cactus

NO, it's not the name of a new band, or a new film,
or even a new designer fragrance. But what else
would you call this spiny creature ?

It's been in our home for probably at least 15 years if my memory is near accurate, and as you might surmise has been a product of great neglect - or great freedom if you wish to take another view. either way it has mostly been perched on our kitchen window sill and left to fend for its fortune.

Once beheaded, I grafted its prickly head back onto its body. At times left desert dry, its makeshift external roots somehow lived off the relative humidity. Though obviously victim to some pock marking parasitic attacks it has survived in a house where other more attended plants have not.

Somehow last week this crazy Alien Cactus caught my attention and closer inspection found it with barely enough dirt on its bone dry root-ball to maintain balance and upright posture. In a fit of guilt I repotted this punch-drunk pot dweller, and now wonder if care is really for the best - after all, it seems to have done pretty well so far without my help.