Just when I needed it

Sulcorebutia arenacea

This cacti is a descendant of a plant that was half-eaten by a squirrel while it summered on our back patio in Minneapolis.  It lived and, as you can see, prospered.  I adore the flaming vibrant orange of this cacti.  It seers my eye-sockets and leaves me begging for more.  Particularly on these still wholly white spring days.

There is something so charming and perhaps a little mysterious about a spiky plant blooming, isn't there?  I actually had to pull a sliver-spike out of Diego's hand this morning from this little beauty.  He's the one who found it in full bloom late yesterday afternoon (I had seen there were buds on it, but had forgotten).  The flowers close at night and re-open in the daylight hours, so some of them were half-closed when he showed me.

Diego brought it to me again this morning and I placed it in the middle of the kitchen table so we couldn't forget about it again.  I am keen on cultivating an interest in plants with my children.  There is so much intrigue and beauty to explore -- I want them to be awed by it.