Ocotillo cacti look like dead branches or sticks during most of the year but they come alive in the springtime. This shot was taken during an especially wet spring season and the entire desert was in bloom.

Cactus in bloom outside of the Japanese Garden

We only have one barrel cactus in your front yard but it puts on a pretty show every spring.

Cactus in bloom in Oña

Cactus in bloom in Oña -- also morning dew

Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom at the Whitewater Preserve, Whitewater, California

Pincushion cactus in bloom.

this is the absolute best time to be in the desert. not too hot, and everything is green and in bloom. it lasts a few weeks and then it's too hot and everything goes dormant.

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Silver City, New Mexico

my new office cactus in bloom

a cactus in bloom on the south dakota prairie

Cactus in bloom at River House on the San Juan River. Photo by Thomas O'Keefe.

Pincushion Cactus in bloom.

DSC03639... March, 2023

Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom at the Whitewater Preserve, Whitewater, California

A Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom. Palmer Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Mostly barrel cactus in bloom, plus a couple of saguaros.

A barrel cactus blooms along the Elephant Tree Discovery Trail. Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California

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via Instagram instagr.am/p/CdmUR-zp07j/

I like these flowers. They are pretty to look at and more tropical looking than anything else growing in the area.

More to the point, for a few weeks of the year they are a bright yellow beacon warning of the presence of cactus. It's saved me from stepping in a patch more than once.

Ocotillo cactus in bloom, Panther Junction, Big Bend National Park, Texas.

Cactus in bloom at Mexican Mountain

Mostly barrel cactus in bloom, plus a couple of saguaros.

Cactus in bloom

In Joshua Tree National Forest. I hit the park at the right time of year to see so many cactus in bloom

Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus in bloom, with pink magenta flowers, in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, in the Colorado Desert, San Diego County, California.

Cactus in Bloom

Blooming desert cactus in Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Media: Pastel. Price: $225.00. Show: Celebrate the Art of Making. Dates: March 27 - April 26, 2009. Curators: Michele Reday Cook and Betsy Mead. Location: Del Ray Artisans gallery at the Nicholas A. Colasanto Center, 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, Virginia 22301.

I happened to be in Western Colorado for the few weeks that all the desert wildflowers are in bloom - this is one of my favorites from the trip.

Cactus in bloom at Bach's Cactus Nursery, Tucson, AZ.

This is a spring bloomer called......

They have many different colors of blooms.