Above and below Opuntia humifusa. These are still blooming away but I snapped all these photos last week, that’s the cheating part.
These next few are also Opuntia blooms but I’ve lost track of on what plants specifically but I think they’re both some version of O. santa-rita…
Finally the one I’m most excited about, an Echinocereus that we brought back from my mother-in-laws neighborhood in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
We dug it in the fall, after record New Mexico rains. It was one water-logged little cactus. Since I knew that would be the kiss-of-death over winter I chose not to plant it out but to pot it up and store it in the basement. I planted it out first thing this spring and was surprised to see a bloom start to form.
What color would it be? I was wishing for scarlet but got a pinky/purple.
Ah well, it’s still beautiful…
And surprisingly lasted for days.
To see what's blooming in other bloggers gardens visit our Bloomday host Carol, at May Dreams Gardens!
All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Cactus blooms sure are pretty!
ReplyDeleteAll frilly and colorful, not what you'd expect right?
DeleteCactus blooms always make me smile - such sweet and delicate looking blooms for thorny characters. I cheated and took my bloom day pictures a week ago as well. Although it was a tremendous amount of work, I hope you got to enjoy the fling and spending time with the guys! Thank you again for putting together such a great fling and for opening your garden!
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful experience Peter, all of it. I'm so happy we did it!
DeleteYour cactus flowers are beautiful! Now, I'm asking myself why you, in Portland, have blooming cactus while I, in sunny, water-starved Southern California, have none. Happy GBBD!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good question Kris, sounds like maybe you'll be adding some cactus to the mix?
DeleteCactus blooms are even special to us in the desert! The O. humifusa with the agave is a great combo.
ReplyDeleteYour NM Echinocereus will be happy in the dry Portland summer, with just enough hot spells to help it forget all about the Land of Scalloped Concrete Edging and Red Lava Mulch, I meant Land of Enchantment.
I fear parts of the Echinocereus are dying off, it moves in a way that a solid cactus should not (frowny face here). Too bad "Land of Scalloped Concrete Edging and Red Lava Mulch" won't fit on a license plate.
DeleteThat pinky-purple gets a lift from the flare of scarlet at its throat. My attempts at photographing your yellow opuntia blooms were a bust, so I'm glad for this. Thanks for all your work making the Fling a big success. You made it look easy but it can't have been.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to see your familiar smiling face but I wish I could have chatted with you more during the Fling Ricky.
Deletecongrats on your cactus blooms! nice....and nice to have spent extra time with Mark, Gaz and Gerard...such great people!
ReplyDeleteThey are indeed, and it was over too fast!
DeleteThe most exciting thing about this post: I know where these are now!
ReplyDeleteIs it possible your Opuntia humifusa is actually Opuntia macrorhiza? I know there's some variability in each species and they're quite close, but doesn't macrorhiza have the orange centers?
While it's always possible for tags to get switched around I am confident these are Opuntia humifusa. My little collection comes from two different nurseries and they both do the identical shrivel and flop in the winter time and their blooms vary in the amount of orange (sometimes on the same plant).
DeleteCactus blooms are always so pretty and even more fun that you dug and transplanted the Echinocereus just this past year. I wondered the same thing Alan did, O. humifusa blooms are typically very pale yellow.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to seeing all your posts from the fling.
Sadly there will be only one (maybe two) posts from me about the Fling. I've already posted about most of the gardens we saw and was too busy doing other things this time around to break out the camera. Might we see you in Toronto next year Shirley?
DeleteLovely cactus blooms.
ReplyDeleteThanks Spiky O.
DeleteAt least you remembered bloom day. I thought about it a couple days ago and then it slipped my mind yesterday to take pictures. Oops. Lovely cactus blooms! I like the Echinocereus. At least it's a strong color rather than a wishy-washy pink, though I too would have preferred red. I checked my zombie Gymnocalycium and it's rooting! That one is definitely a softer pink than I like. I'm not sure why I'm keeping it other than that I'm a plant hoarder.
ReplyDeleteFor a couple delusional days I thought I might have time to do a real (day of) Bloomday post. Glad I reconsidered. You're keeping the zombie because it's a survivor! When a plant works that hard to live who are we to do otherwise?
DeleteAren't cactus blooms so scrumptious? They are silky, delicate beauties. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThanks Deanne. I'll ask you the same thing I asked Shirley, might we see you in Toronto next year?
DeleteBeautiful Cactus blooms! I'm so sad that my Cacti (in pots) died over the winter. I guess if I try to grow cold-hardy Cacti in the future I'll have to plant them in the ground. Your photos are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteDid the pots have good drainage? Maybe try terracotta in the future?
DeleteYour garden certainly lives up to its name. Ouch! But aren't they beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYes it does, more than one person drew blood while the tour came through for the GB Fling.
DeleteI was amazed to find we can grow opuntias in Mass. but they are not quite hardy enough for my hill. Love your photos.
ReplyDeleteDarn it! Not even O. humifusa?
Deletehttp://plantlust.com/plants/opuntia-humifusa/
I just love those blooms and it was so nice of them to come out for the Fling!
ReplyDeleteIndeed, all that and a water lily too! How lucky can a gardener get?
DeleteSo much fun to see all the recent changes you've made in person. I miss you already! What a pure shot of pleasure it all was.
ReplyDeleteYou really need to live closer Denise. Oh and rumor has it perhaps Marty was with you and I didn't get to meet him?
DeleteLovely blooms on your cactus. I have a couple of Opuntia languishing in the greenhouse. I never realised that they have flowers and such beautiful ones!
ReplyDeleteThey've never bloomed for you?
DeleteThere's something so special about cactus blooms--I guess because they seem so unexpected to me. It was such a treat to see your garden in person; thank you for inviting us all. It was beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYour cactus blooms are so lovely, the red at the base of the petals really sets them off. They make me think of a cool tropical drink, for some reason. It's great your transplanted cactus bloomed, and such a vibrant magenta color.
ReplyDelete