Steve inherited this cactus from his father. He’s been tending it carefully for years, lovingly packing it when he moved it from New Jersey. It winters inside, summers outside, and gets watered when it rains in Arizona. About five or six years ago the cactus, amazingly, started to flower–one or two for one night, each. This year the cactus was so happy it grew six potential blossoms.


I took some of these pictures on Friday then waited for something to happen. There was a storm on Sunday and two of the blossoms broke off. Or maybe the plant couldn’t sustain all six of them. Tuesday night, always at night, the first blossom opened. Last night the others opened.


You can still see the first on at the back. It takes a day or two before it disappears.