Plants I'm Growing: Cactus "Scarlet Cup"

Once a year, fleetingly, the several varieties of cacti we have in pots on the deck give a good show. Perhaps my favorite among these is Echinocereus triglochidiatus, a type of hedgehog cactus known as scarlet cup, or claret cup, among other names. The flowers just began to open today. They will last perhaps over the weekend.--or maybe not that long.

Plants I'm Growing: Cactus Flowers (May 8, 2012)

Not technically in my own garden, but across the street in the rock park we live by, the first week of May usually brings a spectacular show of cactus blossoms. This year has been no exception. Yesterday, there must have been several hundred flowers open at once. The honeybees love these flowers for their copious pollen. People love them simply because they are so extravagantly big and eye-catching.