All Dressed Up For Easter….
Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris)
Soft, pastel colored cactus flowers are ready for Easter. But on a cactus?
Absolutely!
Each year, an event occurs in the surrounding desert about the same time as Easter. Beautiful spots of bright color start to appear on the hillsides of the desert.
Cacti everywhere are beginning to bloom.
Isn’t it amazing that such a tough, prickly plant produces such gorgeous flowers?
Purple Prickly Pear (Opuntia violaceae santa-rita)
The flowers themselves are soft….unlike the cactus.
Every spring, I look forward to seeing the beautiful show that the cacti put on with their colorful blooms. I have anxiously been waiting to share them with you and now they are beginning to bloom 🙂
I hope you have enjoyed these unusual yet beautiful flowers.
Happy Easter!
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
These are stunning colors! It is amazing that such a rugged looking plant has such delicate blooms.
Those cactus blooms are gorgeous. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Opuntia flowers are indeed so ruffled and colorful and beautiful. I'm still waiting for mine to bloom, so I'll enjoy yours in the meantime.
Love, love, LOVE these! I'm a huge fan of flowering cacti. When I was visiting your lovely state last week I tried Prickly Pear Syrup on pancakes for the first time. Dee lish! Happy Easter, Noelle!
Dear Noelle, In answer to your question, which really does not need to be asked, YES, I have so enjoyed looking at these cacti in flower. It is so difficult to imagine what they must look like en masse, but happily your postings help to give one a very good idea. The pastel colours are indeed lovely.
Oh, Noelle, those are beautiful blooms! I am almost tempted to like prickly pears after seeing these stunning photos. Traumatic childhood memories of a fall into a patch of our native prickly pears are nearly erased. Almost.
Amazing! I love the cacti flowers! There is house nearby my kids' school has one kind of enormous cactus planted on the road side. Every year of this time, it produces hundreds of red-orange color of flowers, absolutely an attention grapper! Your photos are so gorgeous!
Such beautiful photos. I'm always amazed at the beauty of these desert plants in bloom!
I love cactus in flower… so cool.
Blooms in the desert. It is amazing what beautiful blooms that are coming from them. Looks like roses coming out of cactus.Have a wonderful weekend.
Oh Noelle I have really enjoyed seeing these pictures – please don't stop post some more soon!
Forgot to mention that I think the cacti are wearing their Easter Bonnets.
More than 40 years ago, we lived for a time in Texas. Out behind the laundromat we used was a small slope covered in small cacti. I used to stand in the door and just stare at the incredible cactus blooms while our clothes dried.
oh my, they do indeed bloom in the colors of Easter. So pretty. Hope you have a nice holiday with your family Noelle.
Those pictures are absolutely gorgeous. I'd always heard that the desert is spectacular when all the cacti are in bloom.
They really are so pretty. I love the bright pink ones!
Wow! Such gogeous photography. I do love visiting your blog Noelle.
I just popped by to wish you a very Happy Easter,
RO xxx
My cacti are also blooming. I look forward to their blooms as much as the roses or almost as much as my beloved zinniz!
I also have that purple prickly pear cactus. It really got purple this year, with all our cold weather! In the hot summer, it appears to be a regular cactus, but with cooler weather, the purple color really shows up.
How lovely! I had no idea that cacti got these beautiful flowers. -Jean
How gorgeous, Noelle! Thank you for sharing these.
Wonderful cactus or is it cacti flowers. Happy Easter. jim
They are all so pretty. reminds me of the rose. Beauty and thorns. Who knows why mother nature does what she does. I bet those are a welcomed sight, so much color to see. Happy Easter.
They are all so pretty. reminds me of the rose. Beauty and thorns. Who knows why mother nature does what she does. I bet those are a welcomed sight, so much color to see. Happy Easter.
That's so beautiful! I used to live in Tucson and very much enjoyed the cactus bloom — such a short precious time.
Beautiful flowers, wonder what makes them bloom.
Happy Easter to you & your family Noelle.
These are so beautiful, Noelle! There were only a few blooms on cacti when I visited Phoenix two weeks ago, but last year our visit was timed just right and I saw how gorgeous these plants are in early April.