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Corgi Garden Blog (Warning Psychedelic Cactus Blooms!!!) [1]

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Date: 2024-06-02  

Our cacti are now four years old and getting established. This year’s bloom season (late April through May) was the best so far, so I thought I’d share their beauty with my fellow Kossacks, even though photos can’t come close to capturing the subtle shades of their petals under a vivid New Mexico sky.

Albuquerque’s climate is murder on plants … very arid, baking summer temperatures, freezing winter days, snow, hail, high altitude and UV, and howling winds. Only the native species and a few imports from places like South Africa can thrive here, but when they bloom they are very conspicuous against the muted earth tones of the desert. Cacti are at the top of the conspicuous list: just ignore them and they’ll thrive, but they’re impossible to ignore when they put on their show. Their colors are a rainbow, the bees mob them, and you can’t help but smile at the return of spring. I think of them as the tulips of the desert.

The photos below are of Opuntia (prickly pear) varieties, with the exception of the final one, which is an Echinocereus (hedgehog).

Anyway, on with the show...

var. Mandarin Sunrise (yellow/orange), Apricot Glory (pink), Chocolate Princess (magenta)

var. Citrus Punch

var. Crystal Tide (white), Mandarin Sunrise (yellow/orange), Coombe’s Winter Glow (pink)

var. Chocolate Princess

var. Apricot Glory

var. Rodantha Snowball

var. Chocolate Princess (pink), Mandarin Sunrise (yellow/orange)

var. Solar Flare

var. Mandarin sunrise

var. Apricot Glory

var. Apricot Glory

var. Loveliness

var. Coombe’s Winter Glow

var. Crystal Tide

var. Apricot Glory

var. Baby Rita

var. Mandarin Orange (yellow/orange), Chocolate Princess (magenta), Apricot Glory (pink)

var. Unknown (wild?)

var. Cherry Wine

var. Rodantha Chinle

Echinocereus Coccineus v. Roemeri

Hope you enjoyed a little slice of Mother Nature showing her stuff. Peace.

By the way, most of my cacti were purchased from a great little site in Denver, CO. You can also find some great shops on Etsy. We’re lucky enough to have a few awesome nurseries here in Albuquerque that stock cacti. And, of course, cactus nuts are always sharing and swapping cactus pads … just don’t shake hands ‘cause you’re likely to get poked.

HOWTO: Prickly pear are simple to propagate. You break off a mature pad and let it dry for a few days to harden the spot where it broke off. You then stick it at least half way in the ground with the top pointed up and it will put out roots from that pad and start budding new pads along its tip. The plant will triple in pads every year for the first few years and then slow down a bit. Just avoid perpetually moist or clay-rich soils and they’ll be happy.

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