I simply love this time of year when the last remnants of the summer flowers start to fade away, but the floral landscape still frolics around almost bare but for the late autumn / winter flowers coming into bloom. They might not be as prolific as you would come to expect the early spring flowers to be, but they do compensate with their striking beauty within a season otherwise deprived of the majority of colorful petals dancing softly as the gentle wind touches their faces.
The remnants of the summer air rolling out towards the late autumn brings with it a new kind of beauty, one that can bee seen when the cactus and succulents start coming into bloom.
This is my first bloom for the year on my succulents and cacti, other than the majority of the portulaca species that flower on and off throughout the year.
This bloom, more specifically, belongs to my young Mammillaria cactus that I re-potted earlier this year. I removed the baby from one of my mother plants which I have growing in my garden, in order to start building up my cacti and succulent section for my home based nursery, of which I have already sent out a few orders on consignment stock to local shops interested in selling, however, this is one of the few that was left behind for the time being. And now seeing it in bloom, I am very grateful for that.
I always find it so contrasting, how the Mammillaria cactus, with its rough exterior and the excessive thorns, could host such a gorgeous soft and delicate flower. Even the color of the flower being in complete contrast with what you would think to expect of such a rugged looking cactus at first glance. But that I guess is part of the beauty found in balance of nature.
And although the majority of cactus and succulents will bloom at some point in their life, even though for some, it might only be once in their entire lifespan; I find it quite amazing that a great deal of them is arranged in such a way, that their floral like similarities can give us something to admire while we wait.
Such is the case for me with this lovely red tipped Sempervivum (as seen above) as well as the gorgeous black Echeveria (in the picture below).
These are just a few of the succulents and cactus in my collection at the moment, and although I am sure that there might be other more impressive potted beauties that I could be sharing with you, I personally got stuck in a moment of admiration for the fine balance between contrast and symmetry that these gorgeous plants boast with while I was appreciating my first bloom for the year.