Happy Monday GPODers!
Spring brings a wonderful array of color to our gardens. Trees, shrubs, bulbs, annuals and perennials all have something spectacular to offer our early-season landscapes. In some parts of North America, however, a different set of plants puts on the most colorful performance this season: cacti. We don’t often receive submissions from the southwest, but when we do I’m always dazzled by the desert-dwelling plants that gardeners in this warm climate grow. Karen in Las Cruces, New Mexico (Zone 8) is not able to grow the perennials she dreamed of around her home, but the collection of cacti she has acquired bloom with such sensational color that she is not missing out on any spring interest.
We moved into a senior mobile home community about ten years ago. Although we don’t own the lot, just the house, I had a vision of lots of flowering perennials in our yard. We soon realized our front yard is very hot and sunny with a lot of wind in spring. A few weeks ago many of our cacti were in bloom. Most of them are trichocereus or torch cacti. We have a few prickly pear and some smaller ones but I especially like the torch cacti because they will bloom off and on all summer.
I believe this one is called Volcanic Sunset (Trichocereus ‘Volcanic Sunset’, Zones 8–11)
I got this from a neighbor and I’m not sure what it is. The flowers are open at night.
From a local nursery
My favorite…from a cactus nursery that went out of business and it didn’t have a label. It’s pretty large now and in a good year it will have around 50 blossoms when it first blooms.
A closer look at my favorite
A cone cactus (Tephrocactus articulatus, Zones 8–11), it has frilly white flowers.
Thank you so much for sharing a very different side of spring with us, Karen! As someone who adores growing cacti in the northeast, it will always amaze me seeing these gorgeous plants growing to mature size and with spectacular flowers.
What plants put on a dazzling spring display in your garden? Are you a bulb connoisseur, do flowering shrubs and trees tickle your fancy, are ephemerals the stars your early-season landscape, or do cacti and succulents pack the most colorful punch? Let us know in the comments below, or consider sharing photos of your favorite spring bloomers with the blog. Follow the directions below to submit your photos to Garden Photo of the Day!
We want to see YOUR garden!
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, fill out the Garden Photo of the Day Submission Form.
You can also send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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