cactus_in_bloom photos on Flickr

Blooms in the Desert by Clint Midwestwood

We happened to time our visit so that a ton of the cactus were in bloom. This surprised me, as we'd seen a lot of cactus in bloom during last year's trip, when we'd come to the Four Corners region about a month earlier. We expected to have missed all of this year's blooms ... but then, it occurs to me as I write this that we were about 200 miles farther north this year than last, and a month's difference in the timing of the blooms might make sense.

As an Easterner, I'm going to say this is a prickly pear bloom. It might be something else completely, but to an Easterner all cactuses are prickly pears.

Cactus in bloom by mps_on

Cactus in Bloom by pappy65

Cactus in bloom by Amber Porter

Prickly Pear Cactus in Bloom (frame 4090) by Cory Funk

For all the times I have been through Badlands National Park, I don't think I have ever seen so many cactus in bloom. It was fantastic!

This frame might be a little too straight on (bad rule of thirds framing).

Taken by Cory Funk

Cactus in bloom by Tony Cyphert

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Cactus in bloom, Joshua Tree National Park by Snuva

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It's way too early for most #cactusblossoms, of course, but if you look closely enough, you can spot a few small #cactus in bloom, such as this small cluster of #mammillaria pottsii from Northern Mexico. There were rings of these tiny blossoms that were n by lojo2photos

Beavertail Cactus in bloom by g8rbutch

Peruvian Apple Cactus in bloom (32) Backyard 8-3-14 by Wally B 44

We have had a backyard Cactus Grove for some time. The blossoms bloom overnight for one night only and close up by mid-morning the next day. This is the largest bloom we have had as I counted 24 blossoms this morning.

Prickly pear cactus in bloom by Stephanie Fitzgerald