Profusion of pink cactus flowers

July 06, 2024

When the heat is on in a Texas summer, I love it when this little mammillaria cactus on the deck puts on a crown of candy-pink, satin-petaled flowers.

This collection of small agaves and cacti lives on the deck table, eating up the sunshine and 100-degree temps.

But this one’s the star for a few days whenever she decides to bloom. It happens three, maybe four times a year.

What a beauty!

Thanks for the show, Pinkie.

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Digging Deeper

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All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

2 responses to “Profusion of pink cactus flowers”

  1. Julie McIntosh says:

    Pam,
    I love your blog! Especially the drive-bys and any pictures of succulents in pots. I really want to have some succulent babies of my own but I am confused! I currently have baby sun rose and another type of ice plant but they really don’t want sun all day long. I also have some starters of aloes (maybe, they were free on the curb) and I am hesitant to put them in the sun. I am in Crestview in Austin so I need info about our climate.
    Might you consider doing a blog post about succulents and their needs? My questions are many but include:
    What is the difference btwn a cactus and a succulent and which ones like our blazing full sun?
    What do you do when the monsoon rains come with these plants that hate being wet? Are you running around outside covering/moving your pots?
    How do you overwinter your succulents?
    Should all my succulents be in terracotta or are the glazed ceramic pots ok?
    I could go on but you get my drift! You have already talked about succulents in past posts (we got brave and followed your how-to-drill a hole in a pot instructions) but maybe putting all the info in one post would help those of us new to succulents. That’s a tall order, I know.
    Anyway, thanks for the inspiring photos and travel info (I’m soooo jealous)! And thanks for reading all this.
    Thank you,
    Julie McIntosh

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Hi Julie, thanks for reading and for the suggestion! I am far from a succulent expert, but I could write a post sometime about the ones I’ve had success with. Have you ever checked out the online resources at the Austin Cactus & Succulent Society? They used to have lists of hardy ones for Central TX. Perhaps they have growing info too.

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