R.I.P. Obie

The view from the home of Nancy and Obie (John Oberhausen) in Eldorado. I have been blessed to know a lot of gardeners in my day, but few possessed the extraordinary blend of passion, skill, devotion and just plain loveableness of Obie, who passed away on Christmas eve in 2022.

Yucca baccata

I would stop by from time to time over the decade or so I knew Obie to see his extraordinary range of gardens--almost an acre of intensively cultivated ground around his house, of course--but also the many, many gardens he persuaded the town of Eldorado to put here, there EVERYWHERE! He was the nucleus of a fantastic community of homeowners in his community and beyond who would salvage cacti from places where they were being bulldozed, and turn around and plant them in community gardens. There were just a few rules: Obie pretty much focused on local wildflowers and regional cacti (with a few exceptions--very few). He whipped his friends into keeping an extremely tight rein on their plants: everything was pruned to perfection. And the vast number of cuttings were shared freely...with a strong suggestion, perhaps, that next year you come share in the fun of maintenance. Sheer genius that!

I could go on and on: Obie was the sort of person who one enjoys talking about. He had a New England accent you could cut with a butter knife, and an lovable smile and unstoppable enthusiasm for cacti, for people for life. In his professional life, he was a massage therapist at a Cancer Center: I cannot imagine how many of those who he touched--literally as well as figuratively--with his enormous goodwill. Obie was still hopeful he could beat cancer at the time. I did see him again in October when he visited Denver one last time to speak to our Cactus club. Nancy let me know it would his last visit.

Grusonia clavata

I will not do commentary on every picture: there are simply too many! But I wanted to share some of the images I took of Obie's extraordinary gardens and honor his legacy.

Zinnia grandiflora

Eriogonum arcuatum

Echinocereus triglochidiatus "Inermis variegated"

Variegated cholla

One of innumerable gnomes, most of which were snuck into the garden by Obie's admirers...

Cylindropuntia spinosior

Cylindropuntia spinosior (spectacular color form)

Cylindropuntia spinosior

Cylindropuntia whipplei

Chilopsis linearis

Cylindropuntia imbricata

Castilleja integra

Agave toumeyana var. bella

Cylindropuntia ramosissima (bone hardy form)

Caesalpinia gilliesii

Agave neomexicana

Fraxinus (southwestern)

Obie and Agave neomexicana

Cylindropuntia whipplei 'Snow Leopard'

Cylindropuntia whipplei 'Snow Leopard'

Cylindropuntia viridiflora

One could write a rather chubby book about Obie and his exploits. One--maybe two--chapters would be dedicated to his preserving the rare "Santa Fe Cactus" by having it planted all over its native city and preserving the wild colony in situ. It is a textbook example of how this sort of preservation of rare plants in rapidly growing urban areas should be done. I will never look at my large and truly gorgeous plants of this cactus in my garden (gifts from Obie) without thinking of him. I will append pictures of them at the end.

Views of Obie's garden

Grusonia clavata

These pictures are now from the fantastic Xeric gardens at the Eldorado Community Center: you can visit these any time you go through Santa Fe. I almost always do...

Cylindropuntia imbricata  White flowered

An amazing color break on a Cylindropuntia (possibly a hybrid?)

Don't you love all the insects and spiders in these Grusonia?

That dang Cyindropuntia ramosissima again...

Here's where you park to see that garden...

Salvia pachyphylla loving the cactus treatment!

They even had a tobacco plant!

Here are Obie and myself photographed at the Eldorado Community Center last June. I (and his many, many friends and family) will as well. I know that his legacy will live on and inspire other communities as well: lots of us in the Denver club are planning to copy his efforts with some xeric gardens in our area. And why don't you try it in your community?

Here's a few pictures of the Santa Fe Cholla in my own Obie inspired garden (many of them gifts from him)

Pale Cylindropuntia viridiflora in my garden from Obie

Darker Cylindropuntia viridiflora on the left from Obie as well