Compared to its first 2 winters of flushes on my watch, the E. senilis is doing more of a slow burn with the flowers. Normally they come in, bloom, and check out at the same time, but this time gives me the opportunity to observe all 3 stages going on simultaneously. Let's briefly review what I showed you in Part 1. Here's the "shop foreman" getting ready to flower on 2/1:
A day later, and the senilis is starting its slow burn:
On 2/12:
Then last Saturday:
That's where we left off in my first "E. senilis & friends" thread. Now we'll pick back up -- here on 2/19:
And finally here's the view from yesterday as the flush comes to an end:
It's pretty amazing to see that the senilis will end February with almost an entire month in flower when the last 2 blooms start withering.
The species typically flowers in several flushes, although I haven't had that pleasure yet. Besides the slow burn, another big difference between now and the plant's first 2 years on my bench
is -- not giving it enough water in winter back then. My senilis seems to just love the winter drenches it's getting these days, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'll enjoy the experience of watching a 2nd (and maybe a 3rd?) flush. That would mean senilis flowers well into April and possibly May. When the flush we've just viewed is done with shriveling up, I'll definitely keep an eye out for new buds coming in to replace the old. While flowers have never been the primary reason for selecting the plants I keep, all I can say is that I'm incredibly lucky to have the senilis in my collection -- some of the most beautifully colorful flowers I've seen on any cactus.
Although this is the main event, there's another show going on. Also from yesterday -- the red-headed Irishman keeps on with more flowers of its own:
3 buds are still developing, so the Irishman isn't quite done with its flowering yet. And now I'll end this evening with a look at bloom #2 from my Strombocactus disciformis. The bud started opening yesterday:
The scene from early this afternoon:
This flower is even nicer than the one I showed you last weekend. As you can see, the disciformis is looking awfully thirsty, but it's not even close to being ready for a good soak yet. It'll have to wait for the heat -- given a weather change that seems to be coming my way, I may have to dispense with any thoughts about an early spring. Oh well, the new growing season in L.A. will be here soon enough. While I'm waiting, I'll just kick back and look for signs of more flowering out of my lovely winter bloomers. Nothing to be disappointed about this month, huh?
Cheers, everyone!
