Hardy Opuntia Flower

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

One of my pal Barry’s hardy opuntia plants was flowering today and I was lucky enough to be there to catch it. And with my new lens in tow. Iiieeeeee…….

This plant comes with a fun story — Barry got it free from the compost bin of a gardener that was throwing it out.

I just happen to have a new, and free hardy opuntia myself. It was a gift from a gardener we visited last week. He just plucked a paddle from the parent plant and stuck it in a roll of newspaper for the ride home. When I got back I laid the cutting on the surface of a pot filled with sandy soil. Eventually the plant will root itself and I’ll have a new plant that I can break up and give away to friends that visit my garden.

Most plants are easy to propagate and in my experience gardeners are generous people who are always eager to share a bit of their wealth with those that show interest. For that reason alone I have no idea why some people feel the need to steal plants from gardens.

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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3 thoughts on “Hardy Opuntia Flower

  1. Fantastic! I’m so happy that you now have a macro lens, the photo quality is great. A macro is perfect for picking up the details and complexity of many plants.

    P.S. Great choice in camera, I have a special place in my heart for Nikon.

  2. Alesia: Definitely not my first macro lens… just the widest macro I’ve owned. Many of the photos on this site where taken with different macros.

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