Extree Extree Read About it - Cactus Flower Blooms in Cliffwood Beach
Okay, so maybe not so exciting to some, but to me? I’m thrilled! - I’ve been waiting three years for this sucker (sticker) to bloom. Dug a piece from a client’s yard (yes, with permission) and three year’s later we have our first blooms. This is the 3rd bloom of five that I think we’ll have this year.
Using my trusty internet as a source, I identified it today as a Native Opuntia Humifusa also know as an Opuntia Compressa. Say that three times fast! It’s a native of the North-Eastern Great Plains and grows as far north as Southern Ontario. Huh! I guess, no big deal to be growing in my Zone 6 NJ area.
We thought we’d lost it after the terrible winter we had. After the snow and ice melted, we were left with shriveled dark green, unhappy pieces of something.
Now, doing some research on it, I find that, that is typical. Although, the plants are technically evergreen, the plants become quite deflated and scraggly in appearance during winter. No kiddin! I read on to see “However, the pads green up and plump up quickly in spring.” I left ours alone except for fertilizing and a little TLC this spring and we are so rewarded.
Flowers are pollinated by insects and its seeds are dispersed by small mammals, in particular rabbits, and occasionally by the birds which consume its fruits.
We don’t really care much about all this, but we sure do appreciate the beautiful flowers we are graced with on this glorious June day.
Happy Father’s Day to all my gardening friends!
