May is the month I always look forward to in terms of cactus flowers. My cold hardy cactus out in the big cactus garden traditionally start to bloom the second week in May. This year with the terrible weather and the late freezes, the echinocereus, commonly called rainbow cactus, most of them from Texas, but some from Arizona, were off their time table. But the wait is over, and they are just blooming their little heads off.
I already have plenty of pictures of these flowers, but every year when they bloom, they are just so pretty that I can’t help myself. I drag out the camera and take more pictures. They are very seductive; it always seems like just one more shot is in order, that surely this year they are more spectacular than before. Besides, it seems like I am unappreciative to all their hard work to bloom if I don’t take a picture of them…
The advantage of having many cactus of the same kind is that when they all start blooming, the sheer number of blooms really make a statement. It is not like a field of sold blue bonnets, but the shot of bright pinks scattered about have their own appeal.
The blooms will begin to slow down now, but I will have something blooming off and on all summer. After these have hit their peak and slow down, then the prickly pear and cholla burst forth.
Stay tuned. More to come.
Recent Comments