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Thanks, Hegar, I'm trying to visit different locations every year about the blooming time, June. l'll see how this year will go.

Wow, thanks for sharing !
As a Canadian it is really interesting to see there is some hope regarding species we can try to grow outside year round !

By the way nice pictures, can't wait for your next trip to see more !

In early June I got to the closest cacti habitat by warning of a friend from Edmonton who has seen already some blooming Escobaria plants somewhere on the south of Alberta. As always - after the first flowers have faded.






Next buds of these E. vivipara would need another week or more to open.







Other plants did not intended to bloom this summer as it's seen.




Also I found a clump of O. fragilis with some buds, quite rere at that location.





Just O. polyacantha having prolonged, flower-by-flower bloom, lasting a month or so did the picture that day.






June usually is an wet and rainy month but this year the habitat looked dry and grass was not fresh and juicy.

Some fresh photos from my annual pilgrimage to cacti places along Red Deer river in Alberta.

Was little early for opuntias to bloom. Saw just a single plant there.


Found lot of Escobaria vivipara plants with buds in the morning.



In afternoon flowers opened all together making small cacti visible.







From almost impossible to spot between dry grass these shine bright pink by their flowers.

So beautiful! Makes me miss Canada.

Couple of shots of badlands above cacti grow in.

Those are nice habitat photos. I do especially like the Escobaria vivipara specimens with the deep pink blossoms. I only do have one plant and it does produce an unkempt, light pink flower with thin petals. Last year the cactus did not even bloom and also not this year yet. It should be doing well here, because it is one of our native cacti. However, my specimen plant is struggling.

Harald

Yes, they do not live very long. Ants killed all my adult plants and I have just some seedlings left so far. That's why I go to habitat to see blooms.
Wild plants also do not set flowers every year, they do breaks for one or more seasons.


The coin is ~ 18 mm.

7george wrote: ↑Sat Jun 15, 2019 5:44 am
Wild plants also do not set flowers every year, they do breaks for one or more seasons.

What surprises me is how in places like Alberta while the individual plants don't bloom every year and often take breaks of 1-4 years per plant, when they DO bloom, so often many others in the same area bloom. I'm sure there are climate triggers but I wonder exactly what those are.

Aloinopsis wrote: ↑Thu Jun 27, 2019 10:14 am ... I'm sure there are climate triggers but I wonder exactly what those are.

Definitively, but rather weather triggers. Looking at buds and flowers of E. vivipara I would say there are about 3 "waves" of blooming during the month of June and these come in first warm and sunny day after some significant rains pass through the area. If no rains plants stay shriveled, buds fade and the bloom get spoiled. In July is little late for a bloom because seeds need ~ 3 months to ripe and in September first colds appear here.

Opuntia polyacantha blooms more lavishly, in strong colonies some new flowers open almost every day from June 10th during a month or so. But I mentioned in dry years plants on top of the hills suffer significantly, do not grow and flower, barely survive. Rains starting later in summer are not good enough to fix the situation. In such years (getting more often recently) just plants and colonies at low and wetter location bloom and survive but as a whole population number goes down. Climate change, adaptation challenge.

Do the seeds sit on the ground all winter and sprout in Spring?

Aloinopsis wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2019 10:10 am Do the seeds sit on the ground all winter and sprout in Spring?

I believe seeds need some cold before to be able to germinate. Most fruits have been eaten by small animals and seeds disposed somewhere on the ground but some remain in dry fruits between spines till next season.

Those are super cool!! Wonder if I can find some in Wisconsin.