Roll out the barrel

Or on this case the Barrel Cactus. Otherwise known as the Golden Ball cactus. There is a joke in there somewhere about David Beckham but as I only have one of them I'll leave it.

I am preparing for the office annual flower and craft show. We are a small band of members but the organisation can be traced back to the
1930s with a variety of silver trophies. This cactus just had a wash down and will be transported - very carefully - to the office for display. I wear very thick gloves as the spikes are extremely sharp and strong and will pierce through even industrial gloves with ease.

As a plant it can grow very large (if repotted! - a task in itself) and I once saw a report saying that it took decades to flower. I won't hold my breath! But it is very easy to keep :-)