O, my stars!

[cactuswatcher]

At least my star cacti

These have all bloomed since last Thursday
This one best shows the star shape of the plant from which the Genus name Astrophytum comes.

Astrophytum myriostigma, Bishop's Cap

They say this one is a little tough to grow other places. Here in the desert it's no problem child. This cactus and the one above only have a few soft spines at the growing tip that fall out quickly. They must not taste good to critters.

Astrophytum asterias, Star cactus

Unlike the others this one does keep its spines although they stay soft and pliable unlike most cactus spines.

Astrophytum capricorne, Goathorn cactus.

I have yet another Astrophytum about to bloom, but the flowers are nothing special.

Comments

[auroramama]

Never managed to get cacti to flower on a windowsill (even a high-rise southwest windowsill that was good enough to fatten an amaryllis bulb), and nothing's hardy here except Opuntia humifusa. (Which is still impressive enough in flower and fruit that I've seen it used as an ornamental; but I was more impressed by its attempts to sprout through the gravel path at the local seashore wildlife refuge.) There's something about those fragile brilliant petals set off by a plant that looks like ancient khaki naugahyde that captures something of the essence of =flower=.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Prickly pears are amazingly tough.

But it does take a lot of light before many of the cacti will bloom. Even here in the desert some of them will not bloom during the day till the direct sun hits them, the same sunlight that will scorch the rest of the plant, if you're not careful with nursery grown cacti. The night bloomers require plenty of sun before they'll bloom, as well.