Do not Judge a Book by its Cover.

What do you think of when someone says the word "Cactus"?

I bet the image in your mind is that of the saguaro cactus or perhaps some smaller 'cuter' version. Most of you probably believe that all cacti only produce spines. Spines that can cause VERY painful injuries if you dont respect them (I speak from experience).

But I wonder how many of you know that cacti also have some of the most beautiful blooms seen in plant life anywhere... in other (simpler) words... they produce some of the most beautiful flowers you will ever see...

Google will help you out with some results here... but I also wanted to share some pictures I have taken myself...

Just thought I would try to share this with more people... what happened was that during the course of a conversation a friend was confused when I told him I wanted to go see cactus blooms... he didn't know that cacti could produce flowers... especially such awesome ones...