Spiny Candle?

Echinocereus species. Yeah, I wait all year for my Echinocereus to bloom and I get two flowers that last about 3 days each...(grumble, grumble). Still, the flowers are a dramatic sight and overall, the suspense is fun! Just be careful about taking vacations away from home during cacti blooming season! They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

Just for fun, I looked up the Latin. Echino means spiny and cereus refers to candle. I guess they are shaped like the candles of old and they definitely are painfully (if also artfully) spiny!

Echinocereus Heaven

Echinocereus species. Wow, those Echinocereus sure do know how to bloom! At least that's what I'm guessing this is. This time, no label. However, what a flower! It's almost as big as the cactus itself. I bought this little guy as a no name cacti in a $2.99 pot at Home Depot because I thought the spines looked really cool. It was one of those late Sunday afternoon Home Depot sprees! Little did I know this little cacti was packing a heck of a flower!

Pretty in Pink

Echinocereus species. Well I can't promise that there is something new blooming every single day in my back yard but sometimes it seems close to that! Here's another Echinocereus species in bloom and this one is hot pink! Wow, what a beauty. No spines too! How can you beat that? Good grower, low maintenance, no spines and pretty to boot! I'll take three! If you know the name of this puppy, feel free to chime in since Echinocereus was as close as I got.