Final Flower

This is the final prickly pear cactus flower of the Spring. *sighs*

It's a beauty, too. It's the first one ever on a purple Santa Rita variety that three years ago had one pad and I had left for dead.

There had been some ground flowers near it that I had to water daily. The water flowed (unwittingly) right into the roots of the little cactus. At the end of the first season it had been planted, the tiny cactus showed serious signs that it had been water-logged. It didn't show signs of growth for a year.

Now it has about nine pads on it and seems to have a new outlook on life! After four years it has finally produced it's first flower. The bees seem to like it!