Prickly pear blossom aglow
April 21, 2011
I’m always amazed by cactus flowers, unfurling with such beauty and rich color from such a seemingly inhospitable plant.
For instance, this purple prickly pear (Opuntia macrocentra), with its Mickey Mouse-ear shape and needle-like spines.
Each spring, horn-like buds appear…
…and blossom into a buttery cup of sunshine with a ruby center. I think it’s marvelous.
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Wow, that is a stunning flower. It’s definitely the beauty and the beast all in one plant. Great shots!
Oh yeah, lots of cacti blooming or getting ready to bloom out here. But inhospitable? Shhhhh…don’t tell Danger Garden that!
Lovely bloom, though I also like the purple flush of the‘Santa Rita’ prickly pear. Well yes, the plants need to be inhospitable to not be eaten, and the blooms need to be soft, pretty and inviting to pollinators (:
Beautiful shots. I love the cactus blooms. Never seen one I didn’t like. Your photography is inspiring.
K
Ok and DUH I just realized the last shot is the Santa Rita bloom- I have some that are getting ready to open- I was wondering what they were going to look like!!!
K
Beautiful! I have a Santa Rita in my garden that was planted last fall, and I just saw some new growth on it today…maybe a flower bud! Do you ever water your cactus in dry weather like we’ve been having?
Thanks for the comments, everyone. If you like cactus flowers you’ll like my Easter Sunday post. Stay tuned. —Pam
Our neighbor has a large patch of prickly pear and it’s so pretty in bloom.
It is amazing that such a prickly plant can have such delicate looking flowers. On another note newspaper poems are addicting. I don’t get a newspaper but have plenty of magazines to work with. Thanks for the tip.
So pretty in that light — always amazes me how such craggy plants can produce such delicate and beautiful blooms.
We had prickly pear cactus and wine cups in our other very sunny garden. Gorgeous both of them!