Guide to blooming prickly pear for gardens

All over the desert, rain will bring one of the biggest cactus flower shows in years.

Existing cactus plants in gardens and landscapes as well as in the wild will be reproducing with a vengeance after such a long and brutal drought. Such circumstances are a great time to bone up on your cactus identification to know which species are which. Because so few residents know these species, this chart is designed to clip-and-save for carrying along on your walks and hikes.

The widest range of cactus flower colors are found among the prickly pears, a very large and easily recognized genus due to its paddle-shaped stems. Opuntia contains the most adaptable and widely available blooming cactus for ordinary desert gardens. Some prickly pears are easily recognized but the bloomers are rarely noticed unless they are in bloom. But when you get a great bloomer combined with other qualities like blue or purple skin, excessive spines, colored spines or unusual stem shapes, they're interesting whether in bloom or not.

The world of cactus identification is always confusing because they are so similar. Until DNA there was no sure way of organizing them. Many have five or more common names because the botanical names changed so often and still do. As always, the best way to identify a plant and the way that Linneaus set it up is based on reproductive structures, not overall morphology. To really get to know our local landscape cacti, catch them in bloom. Then take a picture, it lasts longer.

Clip and save: Blooming Opuntia Cactus Identification Guide

Opuntia basilaris: Beaver Tail-Clumping

No other native blooms as boldly as this azure skin spine-free beauty. The intense magenta pink of the flowers that arrive early in the season are unmatched in size and color intensity by any other species. Widely available to buy, do not transplant from the wild. Roots are covered in painful glochids to deter burrowing rodents (and cactus rustlers). This is a great species for open rural sites that suffer wildlife damage or on steeper rocky inclines.

Opuntia engelmannii var linguiformis: Cow's Tongue-Shrub

Large and easy to recognize, this long stem cactus bears narrow, tapering paddles that resemble the shape of a cow tongue. Famous for its multicolored flowers that open yellow, turn orange and then reddish at maturity, they're spectacular in bloom, and later in fruit. Often all three flower colors cover these plants in heavy rain years. The shape of the stems is also easy to bury securely and root in the ground. If you find a good bloomer, take note and return there in summer to ask for a cutting.

Opuntia imbricata: Cane Cholla-Upright

This is a cylindrical stem Opuntia called cholla that grows upright and branches, blooming at the very tips. This is a rare burgundy red flowering species vastly superior to the others as an ornamental. This plant prefers a protected yard or location to mature and look its best out of direct wind that contorts growth. An outstanding upright tree-like single specimen, it's quite transparent in the garden against walls or freestanding where its skeletal forms will give rise to great deep red flowers.

Opuntia macrocentra: Black Spined Prickly Pear-Low, spreading

Purplish skin and very long black spines distinguishes this low growing, spreading cactus named for the red center of each golden yellow flower. Tough and rabbit proof, this less common species will add s purple tinges to your other green or yellow skin cactus and succulents without increasing water demand.

Opuntia polycantha: Grizzly Bear Opuntia-Spreading

The long hair-like spines gives this species its great textural surface, but the flowers are exceptional on this plant too. They're very similar in size and color to native O. basilaris above. Do not confuse this pink flowered form with the yellow which isn't nearly as exciting against the white spines.

Opuntia santa-rita: Santa Rita Prickly Pear-Shrub

Big and vigorous so long as it receives plenty of water, this yellow flowered prickly pear is beloved for its purple stems. However you'll find this beauty is vulnerable to white cochineal (co chen eeya) scale, a bug which disfigures the leaves and reduces its overall bloom. Note the differences in this cactus as you stroll to help you recognize a healthy well hydrated specimen compared to the usual desiccated stunted, infested, barely flowering cactus of the same species.