My Opuntia "baby Rita" has bloomed.

[mikethecactusguy]

It has grown considerably in the last few months and I was surprised to see a flower had pushed up.
I'm looking forward to the new pads turning purple in a few months and the second bud to open up

IMG_20190611_142340-001.jpg (132.67 KiB) Viewed 1887 times

[hegar]

That certainly is a nice dwarf form of a prickly pear cactus. I wonder, did the flower have that salmon-color right away or was the plant's blossom more of a yellow the first day of flowering? I have an Opuntia, which produces a yellow blossom the first day, which then changes to a salmon-pink color the following day. As far as I can recall, its name is Opuntia violacea.

Harald

[mikethecactusguy]

Hi Harald
No, it bloomed the salmon-color. Below it you can see another bud and it also is salmon-colored. It is really growing quickly. The 4 newer pads started to grown around April 15th. The first flower bud appeared then also (its the one that has not bloomed) and then this flower bud appeared right after the new pad stopped growing. I have noticed that with the heat and sun it is losing its color. I did some research and it should gain it back when it cools off later this year.