We, of course, have gone so far beyond good weather that we’re
a living example of “be careful what you wish for.” Sun! Warm temperatures!
Yeah, right.
Okay, to get me off that track, let’s look at flowers. The
cacti start doing their thing starting in March or April, and then the different
varieties bloom at different times through September or so. Here are some of the beauties we’ve had in the cactus
collection so far this year.
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| Santa Rita Prickly Pear (Opuntia violacea var. santa-rita) |
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| Cow's Tongue Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii var. linguifomis) |
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| another species of Prickly Pear |
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| Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii) |
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| Mammillaria troharti? Not sure about this one. |
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| Lady Finger Cactus (Mammillaria sp.) |
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| Another mystery: I thought it was the famous Organ Pipe Cactus, Stenocereus thurberi. Now I don't know. |
Interesting flowers on the other succulents too:
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| Aloe barbadensis |
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| Hesperaloe parviflora |
I think I might have missed the big barrel cactus flowers this year, but I hope not. I'm watching them closely.
This is a far cry from your daffodils and cherry blossoms, isn't it?
Katrina
Stunning flowers. Wildly exotic.
ReplyDeleteI've got cacti indoors but they have never flowered for me. My childhood cacti collection was in a greenhouse and they flowered reliably. Yes, I was a strange child, tending my cacti and grape vine in my own little greenhouse!
A house near us has a sign advertising cacti and suculents for sale and an impressive collection visible on their window sill. I will have to investigate!
Hey Snippa. Hooray for strange children! I was very excited about plants as a child, too, and made a habit of collecting all the half-dead houseplants that the supermarket was about to toss out. Got myself quite a collection! I also loved bonsai and tried my little hand at training some tiny trees, but never got the hang of it.
ReplyDeleteI love the pictures of the Cactus. I had no idea they could be so beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous colours and exotic flowers certainly different to anything here!
ReplyDeleteI too feel sorry for the half dead plants so most of my garden is poplulated by rescue cases.
Neighbourhood cactus update - visited today and bought a few cactus and also some amazing pitcher plants. Cactus post coming up soon from me too!
ReplyDeleteThey are such beautiful flowers! And yes, quite different from what we see around here.
ReplyDelete