mein kleiner, greuner, kaktus

So begins a rather silly song which was popularized by the German group 'The Comedian Harmonists' who were apparently one of the most popular musical groups in Europe before the outbreak of WWII.

The song, which begins: My small, green cactus sits on my balcony, was very popular, and even at the early time suggests to me the popularity of cacti in Germany. One has to admit this is a little strange on the face of it.

Cacti and other succulents, which are also very popular here, are much more at home in drought-prone, warm, sunny places with rocky and sandy soils.  Most of Germany has warm summers, but freezing winters, dense treecover, and lots of overcast skies and rain.  However, here in Southern Germany, one can see them gracing many balconies and sold in many stores. So what's the appeal to Germans?

Two theories- I have noticed that Germans love exotica in general, but only in carefully controlled form. There is a fascination with 'wild' tribes, especially north American, and 'savage' craftwork of African peoples. Cactus and succulents conjure up images of the exotic, sunny lands far from the gray and tidy set of blocks which are most German cities.

There is also the history- the earliest, best, and most thorough scholarship of succulents has been by German authors. German botanists traveled through Africa and South and Central America, making careful notes and drawings documenting the strange plant forms they saw. Perhaps, by bringing attention to the results of their works (which were naturally in German), they captured the imagination of their countrymen and made cacti popular in Germany before the rest of the world took notice.

While one can find plenty of Opuntia and other cacti native to Mexico here, we have had difficulty finding succulents from the Americas here. Most of the succulents come from South America. I bought a small prickly pear cactus which reminds me of Arizona and Mexico, but I would really like to find some agaves. Most of the agave-type plants here are actually aloes, native to southern Africa.