Many people who have never seen the desert in bloom have no idea that cactus plants actually create flower blooms. And there are a variety of blooming cactus plants which are quite beautiful. They're also fairly unique outside the desert southwest, and they can help you have a beautiful garden without needing hardly any water at all! In fact, there are some places in the United States where you have to be careful where you plant a blooming cactus plant, because it can get too much water from the regular rainfall of those areas.

There are a wide variety of blooming cactus plants, and just as wide a variety of how and when they each bloom. Many blooming cactus will only show flowers for a brief period of time in February for instance, while others will only open their blooms in the middle of the night. Still others will not bloom till the hottest months of July or August.

The Pink Hedgehog blooming cactus for instance, will produce a soft pink flower that's about four inches in diameter. These flowers will only open once though, and only at night. They've been known to open even when there's snow on the ground though.

A type of Torch cactus has bright yellow, large blooming flowers on it, and these have been known to stay open for several days in a row, even during the day time.

A Prickly Pear is a beautiful blooming cactus that grows well and profusely in the desert southwest areas of the United States. There are a number of different variets of prickly pear cactus, and all of them seem to produce flower blooms plus fruit. Prickly pear cactus fruits are used to make jelly, and the flat, oval shaped "pads" are also edible. They're high in fiber as well as many vitamins and minerals.

Some of the Prickly pear blooming cactus stay small in height, but spread out quite a bit. I've seen some that grow almost five feet tall too though. You'll also see a wide variety of differences in the cactus blooms themselves. Some prickly pear cactus will develop flower blooms along the top ridge of a leaf pad, while others will sprout blooms from all over the place.

There are some prickly pear cactus blooms which look like tulips, some which look like carnation flowers, and even some that look like roses. The variety is actually quite interesting to watch, and you can even create an entire blooming cactus garden using just the different species of prickly pear, since there seems to be one kind or another that blooms in almost every month of the year.

Possibly one of the best known cactus plants throughout the world is the Saguaro. These can grow into giant tree sizes of twenty feet tall or more. Most people don't know though, that these are also a blooming cactus. Watched closely at the right time of year, you'll discover large white blooms on them that look a lot like sunflowers.