You, too, can give cactuses that holiday glow

Homeowners in colder climes often string colored lights on the trees, bushes and shrubbery in their yards to herald the arrival of Christmas.

Here in the desert, where our yards are more apt to include cactuses than evergreens, lighting up a yard for the holidays calls for a more specialized touch.

But don't worry. Steve Bowdoin says cactuses can serve as fine harbingers of a merry Yuletide season.

Bowdoin is curator of the Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden in Henderson. Each year, he oversees the transformation of the garden for the holiday season, and he's happy to offer a few tips to homeowners wishing to replicate the colorful vibe of the garden, albeit on a much smaller scale.

"The first thing you've got to do is invest in a good pair of gloves," Bowdoin says with a laugh. "It's not like decorating the noble pine tree, that's for sure."

"All cactuses are unique in their shapes and forms and sizes," Bowdoin says, and stringing lights on some varieties can be tricky at best or painful at worst.

"One thing you might consider is getting a reach-up tool so you can hold (the cactus) with one hand and use the other hand to wrap (lights) around the cactus without physically touching the cactus," Bowdoin says.

Now, think about your decorating strategy. "Some people might choose to put a spotlight on it," Bowdoin says, while others may choose to string LED lights on a plant or even to use laser spotlights to dance images on a cactus.

"There are a lot of different things you can do today. Twenty-two years ago, when we started decorating here in the garden, it wasn't that easy. You had to wrap every single plant."

If you choose to do the same, take into account the plant's shape, height and sturdiness.

For instance, "agaves are the worst because their leaves are very symmetrical and you do have to get close to an agave to wrap it," Bowdoin says.

"You may have agaves in your backyard. A lot of people here in Las Vegas do have agaves. With an agave, you have to be careful to not put too many lights on it. Then it will weigh down the leaves and they'll sag after two or three weeks."

For shorter varieties of cactus, such as a barrelhead cactus, "just wrap them so it looks like a swirl around the plant," Bowdoin says. "And I would recommend using a color like a white or a red that really brings it out so that you can actually see the plant."

Anchor light strands carefully on needles or branches and be sure the weight of the light and line won't damage the plant.

"You don't want to pull it tight so that you're strangling the plant," Bowdoin adds. "You want to just let (the lights and cord) rest on the needles around the cactus."

For more delicate cactuses, consider using incandescent Christmas bulbs rather than LEDs. Incandescents "will supply just enough heat to keep them from freezing overnight," Bowdoin says. "So you can leave the lights on overnight and they will actually supply enough heat to the plant to keep it from freezing."

Bowdoin suggests that first-time decorators start off with just a few durable, larger plants. "Try it out and see what you can do," he says. "Then, maybe next year, you can go to smaller plants.

"But be creative in what you try to do. Use (light) colors that are out there. We have pinks and purples and oranges now in LED that really show off the plant that we didn't have a few years ago."

Another option: Floodlights that change colors or even offer shine laser effects at a plant. The latter can be "awesome," Bowdoin says, alternating colors and projecting "dots all over the plants for a cool effect."

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280 or follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.