~~~Prickly Pear anyone?~~~

[Turquoise]

I saw the thread Mare started of her cactus & their blooms and the ones other posters added to it. So I figured I'd post a few pics of my bloomin' cacti, my potted native Texas Prickly Pear or Opuntia as it is actually called in the cacti books. I do keep the ornamental cactus species that I buy from various places also, but they can't withstand our cold temps. in winter & are all kept indoors. I take them outside for short durations when the weather is nice for them, but again they can't withstand our super hot summers either since I baby them with refrigerated air conditioning.

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I was delighted to see that I caught a bee in-flight in this one.
The closeup setting for the flower causes it to be blurry tho'.
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[Pinkbirdy]

pretty :) looks like you have a big yard to landscape!! Also you can see how hot it is there !!!

[Debra]

How pretty! We found some popping up on our land. I may let it go and see if it blooms for us.

[Blancaej]

Beautiful flowers! Thanks for sharing!

[Honesty]

What beautiful flowers. We dont get plants like that here in the UK:(

[aliray]

Very pretty but look at those spines. Ouch

[Greenwing]

When I first moved here my yard was full of PP Cactus... But within 3-4 days my tortoises made a meal of them... Once they find something they like they sit there and eat until its gone...


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[jtbirds]

Greenwing you have a tortoise:p, cool!

Very beautiful. The shade of yellow is outstanding!

[Greenwing]

I have a few tortoises.. Been keeping for 26yrs now..

Here is Tina 143lbs




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[Turquoise]

Thanks everyone, the spines are menacing if you back into them or have to move one. Terri, that is about all the landscaping I do, it gets so darn hot here in summer that I don't waste water or time I don't really have keeping flowers anymore. if I don't forget, next week I will take photos of the lake behind my house & show ya'll just how much of a drought we have been having for several years now here & pretty much most of Texas.

Greenwing, I have tortoises also, but my sulcata girl, Toodle Butt isn't nearly as large as your Tina. My girl is coming up on 2 years old, she doesn't eat too many pads at a time yet. I do have 2 pots of spineless for the tortoises, my photos didn't come out for them. I just realized I didn't have any photos of them. The spineless are not native to this area, I got these from my Mother-n-law who got them many years ago from a neighbor who went on vacation somewhere & brought them home.

I also have a leopard tortoise & an Indian Star tortoise. they are both still young & small. I have to repair their pen I keep them in for summer, they wintered indoors & they are ready to get out of the house. They are still small enough raccoons or rats could carry off & eat.

[Mare]

Thanks for sharing your cacti photos! I think their blooms are so delicate and unique to that species, they all seem to have their own look, their own special, beautiful flare. I love them!

[Greenwing]

Turquoise .. You have a Nice collection of torts... I have 3 Tina, Tony, and Tiny.... All sulcatas.. Had them all from the size of a quarter ..When I lived up north I would buy the spineless but they had those small no see,em spines.. None of mine are bothered by the big spines...

They live outside yr round here..But at night they retire to a shed I built..and are locked in for the evening..


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[Debra]

I would love to see more pics of the torts!

[Greenwing]

I'm having a hard time posting pics again..

This is Tina and Tony sharing a moment...


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