Arizona "native" back yard - cactus blooms
 

As a “companion” post to my “Arizona naturalized yard” post, this one just shows a few (very few) my cactus (and a couple of non-cactus) that have bloomed recently. I probably have almost as many different cactus varieties as I do of orchids.

These cactus blooms can be as beautiful as orchids, but they generally only last for a day and bloom only once a year. Some varieties will bloom 2 or 3 times annually, and some will re-bloom (same blossom) for 2 or 3 days. They DO have a succession of bloom, so one cactus may be in bloom for a week or so, and there is something blooming much of the time. They bloom MOSTLY when it is rainy . . . we have 2 “rainy seasons” a year here . . . and “rainy” means total of 5-6 inches for the season, 10-12 for the entire year. Yes . . . it’s a dry heat.

It’s a shame the cactus are not more floriferous, because some of them are really spectacular.

The last picture is an Agave (used to make Tequila).

Ed

poor agave, it put its life into that bloom, hopefully it attracted something :)

Looks fantastic! I lived in Tucson for 6.5 years (graduated from Sabino and spent 4years at UA) before I moved to Hawaii and I do miss those cactus blooms and the monsoons! My mom told me that the storms are pretty impressive this year. Thanks for the pics!

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing

Lecent

Ed what are the white blossoms in the fourth pic? I like them a lot...

The White blossoms
 

In the forth picture . . . that is an Echinopsis hybrid, don't know the name. It is actually a very pale purple-pink blush. The one that is a true white is the fifth one (last one on the left) . . . that is a Cereus hybrid.

AND, to rtsingleton . . . that Agave was swarming with insects day and night (moths), and the occasional hummingbird. That spike was about 12 feet tall, and the bloom head lasted about 2 months. I do hate to have them bloom (which they seldom do) because then I lose a nice landscape plant, and need to replace it.

Ed

hi ed. i enjoyed you,re cacti very much.
i do have some in my rockgarden in the summermonths; but have to bring them back in when it gets cold.
they really don,t like it in the house. poor things

WoW!! Those are just gorgeous :drool:
I wish I could grow these in my yard - Lucky you Ed.

:D

WOW Ed those blossoms blew me away. THEY'RE GORGEOUS!!!

Very nice Ed. Keep em' coming!