Thank you, Scout211:
We had late winter rains this year in NorCal, so the cactus flowers were plentiful and brilliant this blooming season. The photos below were taken over several months, as they don’t all bloom at the same time.
The Seek app from iNaturalist identified each cactus for me so if there is an error, I don’t mind being corrected.
Top photo: The first cactus flowers of the season are the Torch Cactus, Trichocereus spachianus.
The Seek app identified this as a Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia but was unable to further identify it. This type of Prickly Pear has very long spines, as you can see clearly.
Here is another Prickly Pear Cactus. Seek tells me it’s a Santa Rita Prickly Pear, Opuntia santa-rita.
And a few days later, another pic with a visitor.
This one, Seek tells me is a Tree Cholla, Cylindropuntia imbricata.
And lastly, a few pics of my very favorite cactus flower. But first, the story behind this cactus flower.
My husband started our little cactus garden when we first moved here 17 years ago. It’s located on a very hot side of the garage, with full day sun. It started small, as in the cacti were tiny. Then years later some of the cacti started to tower over the others and one almost reached the garage roof. I tried to prune them at first. Pruning is always my job because my husband loves to plant things but cringes at the thought of pruning any of the things that he lovingly planted. So I pruned them every year for several years, but pruning got very, very difficult to do with large cacti. You might even say, it was a painful, prickly task. ;-)
So we dug out the large ones and replanted them in another part of the property. This one though, he replanted temporarily into a large nursery pot with plans to eventually replant it in the area where he replanted the others. But time got away from him and there it sat for the next few years.
And then one year, flowers appeared on the cactus that had never had flowers before. They were big and beautiful. Each day, I would remind myself to take a pic of the flowers but by the time I went outside, the flowers were spent. The next year, the same thing happened and I googled to find out the type of cactus and discovered that we have a night blooming cactus. What a treat!
It was hard to identify because the varieties of night blooming cacti look very similar. But Seek tells me it’s a Peruvian Apple Cactus, also known as the Venezuelan Apple Cactus, Cereus peruvianus.
We love our cactus flowers and this night blooming one is my very favorite. But don’t sleep too late or you will never see it in full bloom because the flowers only last one night.
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What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
Saturday Night Music Thread
sab
I am a midwesterner by choice and family (although grew up east coast north Florida.) So I think landscspes should be green.
But I lived four years in Nevada, and the desert landscapes sometimes were lovely.
Not in a big way for me. Driving around I thought it was desolate.
But when we stopped by the road everywhere was a tiny little roadside garden trying to survive. Not planted. Just happened.
ETA Desert plants are amazing.
Baud
Pretty
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
rikyrah
Beautiful pictures 😍
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
JPL
Lovely pictures and thank you for sharing. Pruning cactus is not on my todo list. Ouch
satby
Cactus flowers are very beautiful! Thanks for showing us, especially the night blooming one!
Jeffg166
Cacti have the most beautiful flowers. The rest of the year the plants sit there like a lump.
JAM
Beautiful cacti, thanks for the pictures.
WaterGirl
The night blooming cactus. Stunning. Just stunning.
J.
Gorgeous! And great photos. I love cactus flowers and how something so prickly can also be beautiful.
Jackie
So did your night blooming cactus eventually get replanted, or does it thrive in the “temporary” pot?
BenInNM
Beautiful! I love watching the bees in the cactus flowers – they always seem so happy!
Trivia Man
Spectacular
yet another niche served by a jackal. So much variety here in our experiences and interests
Kristine
There’s something magical about night- blooming cactus. 🌵
Love the brilliant colors. Thank you.
TerryC
Wow!
Glidwrith
Beautiful! My son adores cacti the same way I adore orchids. We’ve set aside a couple of places in the yard for them. One unfortunate pick has grown over twelve feet and spread into the neighbors yard. We trimmed it down and it came back with a vengeance (ouch!).
Scout211
Thanks, everyone. 😊
It’s still in the “temporary” pot and apparently it loves it because it is indeed, thriving.
It also has started a second blooming season! I just took a photo this morning at dawn with five flowers blooming. And there are at least a dozen buds on the cactus that may produce even more flowers this year.
StringOnAStick
@Scout211: Seems like it prefers being a potted cactus? There are other forms of night blooming “almost” cactus, more on the “zigzag” stemmed look (almost like a Christmas “cactus”) with sometimes very fine needles (or not; succulents can be funny about that). I’ve seen amazing specimens in hanging baskets though they always get too big for all but the largest homes with big windows. Gorgeous in a greenhouse though, and the blooms sure look like your night bloomer here.
Jackie
@Scout211: It must prefer its roots crowded.
Dmkingto
Wow! How big are those night blooming flowers? They look huuuuge!
Tehanu
Wow. I’m not a fan of cactus or other succulents, but these flowers are gorgeous.
WaterGirl
@Scout211:
I was hoping that would be your answer!
Do not mess with success!
WaterGirl
@Jackie: My master gardener friend, who has already forgotten more about flowers and gardening than I will ever know, describes that phenomenon as “likes tight shoes”.