Blooming Prickley Pear----awesome

[Gary Max]

Once a year for about a week our Prickley Pear cactus blooms.
This year I wanted to share this with everyone.
They just opened this morning.
Hope you enjoy

 

[GaryMGg]

Nice view.

 

[Gary Max]

Gary sometime in the next 48 hours there will be hundreds of these blooming at the same time. They only last a couple of days but it is really something to watch. Heck if I had the time I would just pull up a chair and watch them. But I am building a custom Cedar handrail for a staircase so it's back to work.

 

[Doghouse]

I like the after effect. Those pears are tasty! Nice with margaritas, skin then mash the pears and add to frozen margarita!

 

[wudnhed]

Those are so pretty! Seems in nature everything has it's own beauty, even cacti.

 

[dbriski]

You should set up a time capture on your video camera (if you have one)that would capture a frame every 1-5 minutes that would look really cool to see them all open up and then fall off.

 

[richstick1]

It's so pretty, I could just reach out and tou....

OUCH!!!!!!!

 

[Gary Max]

Ouch is right-----these will almost jump up and get you. I still ain't figured how birds land on them and sit around.
Because someone asked----I live almost on the Tn/Ky state line. The first time I saw these I knew I was going to have them in my yard. Sorry I don't have a time capture camera but that sounds like a real neat ideal.

 

[cozee]

I've heard the blooms are edible!!!![]

 

[Texatdurango]

Originally posted by cozee
<br />I've heard the blooms are edible!!!![]

So have I.... eat one! Then let us know if they taste good.

George

 

[Gary Max]

It's not the blooms you eat------after they fall off there is a bulb that is under the flower---they taste alright.
It is hard to peel off the hull.
They make jelly from it----I have seen it for sale in local Amish shops.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Gary,
My wife and I lived in Tucson for a year... one of the townhouse apartments we lived in had a HUGE cactus in the back yard.. I can confirm that they will bite you.. seriously, I was spreading gravel around the yard and didn't watch which end was towards the cactus.. first and only time I ever had to shave my B---... only way to get the spines out... it was about the only thing in the back yard our dog didn't eat. She especially liked my pagoda lights that I lined the yard with.

I tried to make jelly from the cactus fruit .. didn't turn out so well, we had more cacti syrup than jelly.