Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Sunday 1 January 2017

Sunday Selections #308

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  This week?  I would be very, very remiss if I didn't start by wishing everyone a Very Happy New Year.  A much better year than the last, which was difficult for people the world over. 


However, 2016 is now 'cactus' (Australian slang meaning dead, useless, or broken) and we can hope for better things to come.  I do hope for better things to come.  In the interim I am also going to feature blooming cactus which, unlike the year that was, made me smile.

Starting with our night flowering cactus.  The blooms are huge - six or seven inches across, come out at night and last only one day.  I think the bud looks remarkably phallic - but that may be just me.










  
Not only is it a thing of beauty, it has a pleasant scent as well.  Which is at least partial recompense for the number of times I have inadvertently brushed the parent plant and its rotten spines have broken off in my flesh.

Also flowering at the moment is a much smaller cactus.  Unscented, but its flowers are much more prolific and last longer.







I hope the year(s) to come are full of wonderous things, love and laughter for us all.

155 comments:

  1. EC your flowers are amazing. I know you are in New Year because you are ahead of us about 8 hours..

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    1. Gosia k: Thank you. The New Year has probably reached you by now, and I hope it is wonderful.

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  2. You are not wrong about the phallic bud! It turns into something very pretty :)

    I hope you have a wonderful year, EC, with lots of fantastic sunsets, beauty everywhere you look and only the good style of leaking eyes

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    1. kylie: Thank you so much. And the same to you and yours.

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  3. I so enjoy your beautiful photos of your flowers and your descriptions of them. I don't know of any flowers here that are similar. I saw on TV some of the fireworks for your New Year celebrations in Australia. Have a great 2017 and best wishes for good health.

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    1. Glenda Council Beall: You saw more of our New Year Celebrations than I did. Bed called. I hope that you too have a healthy and happy 2017.

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  4. What wonderful flowers! Truly beautiful! Wishing you a very happy new year and I also want to thank you for all the lovely comments you've left on my blog this past year. I appreciate you stopping by more than you know.

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  5. Such beautiful cacti, EC. Thank you for sharing them and Happy New Year. I hope 2017 is a great year for you and your family.

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    1. Marie Smith: I hope that 2017 is a great year, and a kind year for everybody.

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  6. Dear EC
    Lovely cactus flowers to enjoy. Have a Happy, peaceful and healthy New Year and thank you for the comments you leave on my blog too - I echo what 'We are: Clamco' and 'fishducky' say above.
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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    1. Ellie Foster: Best wishes to you and yours. I am so very grateful to have found the warmth and the wonder of the blogosphere.

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  7. Happy New Year! I hope 2017 is wonderful year for you.
    The cactus blooms are quite beautiful.

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    1. CountryMum: I really like the cacti too. And I hope that the year is great for you and the farm.

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  8. Happy New Year, Sue! 2016 is indeed 'cactus' now. Let's hope 2017 is a better year for everyone! Thank you for your pictures of the blooming cactus!

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    1. Denise Covey: Thank you and Yolanda so much for all the work you put into making WEP a safe, supportive and fun place. And yes, hopes for 2017. High hopes.

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  9. The cactus blooms are beautiful, especially the night flowering one.What would persuade a cactus to decide to bloom at night? Nobody would see it! Silly cactus!
    My very best wishes for a happy healthy and trouble-free 2017, and let's all hope for calm, peace and understanding in this troubled world of ours.

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    1. Shammickite: A shy cactus? An introvert cactus? I have, for the last couple of years outsmarted it though.
      Love your wishes, and hope the world takes note.

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  10. Love the night cactus. What pollinates it? Bats? Moths?
    Cactus as a word meaning dead, gone, is a new one for me.

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    1. Sue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: I am glad I remembered to 'translate' my use of cactus. It is common usage here, and I often forget that slang is so different.
      My guess is that moths, or perhaps wind pollinates the cactus, but it is only a guess.

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  11. So different from each other but both so beautiful! I've only had one cactus and its spikes were about 1-1/2 inches long. I stabbed myself so often I had to get rid of it ... it would've been an excellent weapon for self-defense in case of home invasion, if only one could get hold of it without impaling oneself ...

    To get back on track, a very Happy New Year to you, too EC. And I'll echo those above who thank you for your supportive and kind and interesting comments on our blogs year round. You are such a positive presence in blogland!

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  12. P. S. That should have read "to you and your partner"

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    1. jenny_o: The night-flowering cactus is particularly vicious. As well as the major spikes it has a lot of fine, sharply pointed 'hairs'. They break off in flesh at the slightest touch and I have had to let them fester out more than once.
      And thank you so much for your kindness. I am so glad that you finally took the plunge and created your own blog.
      Happy and healthy year(s) ahead for you and yours.

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  13. The wheel wobbled as it circled the sun, but perhaps the wobble will be less so this year...
    Hope is a wonderful thing!
    Thank you for all your gems throughout the year.Tau hou hari, as we'd say in Aotearoa.

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    1. dinahmow: I feel it should be me thanking you. I do thank you. You have educated me, given me things of beauty and made me laugh.
      And yes, with luck the wheel will run more kindly this year round.

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  14. Have a wonderful new year in 2017 EC.

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  15. 2016 certainly is cactus, but your cacti are stunning.

    Let's hope 2017 is a far better year than the last; let's hope lessons have been learned and mistakes and bad behaviours not repeated...let's hope.

    May 2017 treat you and yours kindly, EC. Cuddles to Jazz... :)

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    1. Lee: I am hoping. Hoping my heart out. And one of those hopes is that you and your furry overlords have a great week/year/life.

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  16. always lovely images from your garden. I hope the kitties never get near the cacti spines. HNY to youse all

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    1. Annie ODyne: One of the cats did leap for the cactus. Once. And I picked spikes out of her hide for days. HNY to you too.

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  17. May we continue to appreciate the world's beauties, as you've so generously shown through your photos, words, and character.
    All things good and better for 2017, EC.

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    1. Rawknrobyn: Beauty is everywhere. Fortunately. And this beauty addict chooses to focus on it as much as possible. Love, laughter, kindness and fun to you. Always.

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  18. I love the big night blooming cactus, I imagine those white flowers would glow beautifully in the moonlight. My cuttings are all standing straight and tall in their hanging pots, which aren't yet hanging. I won't hang them until I see actual growth.
    The red cactus is certainly prolific with its flowers.
    Happy New Year, hopefully a peaceful new year.

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    1. River: The flowers do glow. I am pleased that your cuttings are doing well. And yes, a happy, peaceful year sounds good. I hope we can all experience it.

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  19. Happy New Year. The cactus flower is huge and what an unusual petal arrangement.

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    1. Andrew: And a very happy year(s) to come for you and R too. The cactus flower is ginormous, and a treat.

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  20. Even in what is prickly, there is beauty. 2016 was a hard one, but there were some lovely moments. Friends, both close and far away, made life good.

    Happy, happy, New Year, EC.

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    1. Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe: There is beauty, and lovely moments, and caring people. Which the media denies and I need to remember.
      A very happy year to you and yours.

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  21. 2016 is certainly cactus, in any sense of the word - except the one in your photos of these beautiful flowers.
    All the best to you and yours for 2017. May it be peaceful and happy, and see you both in good health.

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    1. Alexia: Do you use the term 'cactus' in NZ as we do?
      I hope the coming year(s) are super good to you and yours.

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    2. No, I haven't heard it used like that. People do say 'in the cactus' meaning in a mess, or in trouble.

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    3. Alexia: Just an orstrayanism then.

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  22. Wow...those flowers and their colors!!! Happy New Year to you!

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    1. e: Aren't they dramatic? A very Happy New Year to you and Jacob.

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  23. Great flowers. May your 2017 be equally beautiful

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    1. Martin Kloess: May everyone's year be beautiful.

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  24. Love your phallic cactus. ;) The blooms are certainly beautiful. I don't have the same feelings for the parent plant. Too plain and boring...and prickly!
    We can all use a better year ahead. I'll raise a glass of punch and wish us some good times to come.

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    1. River Fairchild: I would/will happily share a glass or six of punch with you.

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  25. MY goodness, I thought I'd never get to the end of all these comments! Happy New Year for you already, and I just LOVE that gorgeous fragrant flower, and the pretty red one, too. :-)

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  26. Wishing you and your family a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

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  27. Replies
    1. J Cosmo Newbery: I look forward to it every year. Short lived, but magnificent.

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  28. I had a flowering cactus once that bloomed only at night. It was such a beauty! Here to wish you a happy new year!

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    1. mail4rosey: I wonder whether your cactus came from the same family? Happy New Year to you and yours.

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  29. Happy New Year to you too. Still a couple hours to go, but I'm going to bed. What a lively party animal I am! I like the red blooms of the smaller cactus and aren't all flowers sex organs sort of? Phallic in every sense.

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    1. Strayer: The new year came in without my assistance too. I figure she knows the way. You are right, most if not all blooms are sex organs. Efficient too. And pretty with it.

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  30. I've seen the red ones before but the white ones are new to me they are wonderful.
    Merle...............

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    1. Merlesworld: It is a very ordinary and not terribly attractive thing for most of the year. I think it makes up for it when it blooms.

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  31. Wish you and your family a happy New Year 2017. Let this year be a happy one:)No words to express the beauty of the flowers...

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    1. weekend-windup: Thank you. I wish the same for the world.

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  32. Hi EC - Happy New Year to you and yours ... and a peaceful and blessed 2017. Gorgeous photos - love the cacti and their flowers ... it's lovely to be reminded of plants from 'the underworld'! It's gloomy grey here ... so am very happy to see your sunshine plants ... take care and enjoy the year ahead - Hilary

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    1. Hilary Melton-Butcher: Thank you. I hope the gloomy grey is outside, and you are able to keep it from your heart and head.

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  33. Who would think cactus could be so lovely. Thank you for sharing and Happy New Year to you and yours.

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    1. Granny Annie: For most of the year the cactus isn't lovely. It is a trap for passersby, but I think it makes up for it in its brief flowering. And a very Happy New Year to you too. I hope you are able to talk again.

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  34. Those are beautiful cacti. They're not native to the area where we live, but I see them from time to time in landscapes.
    R

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    1. Rick Watson: They are not native here either. I don't think Australia has any native cactus, perhaps because we have enough other things that bite.

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  35. Oh I love blooming cactus...wishing you much love, light and peace for the new year! Happy New Year my dear friend!!

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    1. Donna@LivingFromHappiness: Thank you. I am returning your wishes to you as well - and to the world.

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  36. I love cacti, your blossoms are amazing, and that hanging plant so much texture. Happy New Year to you and yours.

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    1. Linda Starr: They are dramatic and beautiful aren't they? Where the smaller one is concerned a piece broken off grows readily.

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  37. SMASHING! BOUNTY! May this new year bless you with good health and great joy my dear Sister <3

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    1. Cloudia: And to you, oh sister across the seas.

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  38. Replies
    1. Author R. Mac Wheeler: Thank you. And to your family, two and four-legged alike.

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  39. Gorgeous blossoms! The year gone-by is cactus:)
    I like that. Like a cactus, it gave beauty and
    pricked hard. One seems to come with the other.
    Thanks for the loveliness you share,
    Jennifer

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    1. Jennifer Richardson: Beauty and pain do often travel together don't they? And I need to focus on the first to rise above the second. Hugs.

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  40. What a beautiful array of photographs, the colours are lovely.

    Good wishes for this year.
    Yes, we are now fully in 2017

    All the best Jan

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    1. Lowcarb team member ~Jan: Thank you. I hope the year treats you and yours kindly.

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  41. WOW.
    I didn't know cactus could be so lovely!
    Those blood-red flowers are amazing.
    HAPPY 2017, Sue! xx

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    1. My Inner Chick: There is beauty everywhere. And the blood red cactus splashes colour on our veranda.
      A very happy productive year to you too. Hugs.

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  42. love the cacti, especially the night blooming one. He's extra pretty :)

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    1. mshatch: It is, isn't it? And there is, I hope, another bud coming on...

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  43. Those flowers are truly remarkably beautiful my friend.

    Elephant's Child I wish you much happiness in this year of 2017.

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    1. Lon Anderson: Thank you. I hope you and your wife find peace and happiness too.

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  44. The flowers of those cacti are very pretty, lovely to look at.
    Happy New Year

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    1. Margaret-whiteangel: Thank you. I really like them. A very happy New Year to your family too - with no more surprises like the Christmas flood.

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  45. You can't have beautiful flowers and buds both - pretty blooms = phallic buds! :) Your photos, and garden, are beyond lovely, always cheer me up.

    Happy New Year 2017! Wishing you peace and joy and much success in all you do this year!

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    1. Nilanjana Bose: Some flowers do manage pretty buds and flowers, but I am happy to see them any way they come.
      A very happy New Year to you too. Joy and success are wonderful hopes.

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  46. This is so funny, but I had a cactus for years on the back porch of the home I shared with my now ex-husband. When I left him, he brought the cactus by one day to my new apartment. That's just what it and I needed - a positive change.

    One day a phallic appendage emerged from it and started growing. I was fascinated by what was happening to my cactus! And indeed, it bloomed once and then no more, until the next few years - once a year.

    The cactus suffered some damage and died - I had forgotten about it until your post. Thanks, EC!

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    1. Lynn: This cactus only blooms once a year too. And sulked for rather a lot of years before it decided to bloom again. I am glad to bring back cactus memories for you.

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  47. Such vivid colors on those cactus. I love them and keep several in my greenhouse until they bloom, then I bring them inside to enjoy. As always, your pictures were a delight.

    Happy 2017!

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    1. cleemckenzie: I suspect if I had a greenhouse there would be no room for the cactus. And if there was I would probably miss its brief blooming. A very happy 2017 to you and yours.

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  48. Goodness, these lovely photos are a tremendous way to ring in the new year! Happy and Merry 2017, may love and joy follow you everywhere you go!

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    1. Karen S.: Thank you. I hope that the New Year is treating you well, and continues to do so.

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  49. Those are absolutely gorgeous, Sue! Here's wishes for a happy and healthy 2017.
    Hugs

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    1. Sandra Cox: Happy and healthy says it all doesn't it? And to you. This year and every year.

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  50. Amazing and lovely flowers. Let us hope this will be an inspirational New Year and a banner year for us all.

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    1. Rasma Raisters: I would settle for a kind year. Something I think the world needs a whole lot more of.

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  51. You know, I like the red blooms, but there's something just so other worldly about the white blooms. I bet they're amazing to see at night.

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    1. Sandra Cox: They are amazing at night. Their scent is stronger too.

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    2. I've read about night bloomers but never actually seen them. It would be an amazing experience.
      YOU have a great one:)
      Hugs

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    3. Sandra Cox: They last such a short time, but that first night is magicals. Hugs returned. With interest.

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    4. Awww.
      Night flowers, roses and thorns. It's always a trade off.
      YOU have an excellent day...or evening:)
      Hugs with interest returned:)

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    5. Sandra Cox: Morning here. And going to be a hot one.

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  52. What a amazing cactus. We don't have so big ones. Many people here have at home a cactus which makes flowers in Christmastime.
    Your photos are wonderful.
    I wish you (and all of us) very happy time in 2017.

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    1. orvokki: We have the 'Christmas Cactus' too - though it flowered early this year. And cacti are an exotic here as well.
      I too hope that we all have a happy 2017.

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  53. Something I nevere see in my neck of the woods is Cactus.
    Lisa

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    1. Lisa: They are rare here too. Particularly the big monsters like the night flowering one.

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  54. Happy New Year to you! Lovely photos. There's something so powerful about vibrant flowers blooming from cactus.

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    1. Jenny Baranick: I think it is the contrast. Fragile beauty teemed with weaponry...
      And a happy New Year to you and yours.

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  55. The night flowering cactus is beautiful. How lovely that it smells so fragrant too (though it stinks to get pricked by the spines). The other cacti are blooming pretty too! Thanks for sharing.

    Here is wishing that 2017 is a fantastic year for you filled with good health and happiness. :)
    ~Jess

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    1. DMS ~Jess: The spikes are vicious. I can't count the number of times they have stabbed me, broken off and had to be left to fester out. I do think the flowers are worth it, but not everyone would agree.
      I hope that 2017 is a wonderful year - for the world. It is overdue.

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  56. Wow - amazing flower shots!

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  57. I've never seen such beautiful cactus blooms, they're gorgeous and have brought some well-needed colour to my day. Thank you sweetie X

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    1. All Consuming: Thank you. I hope that your day brought you more colour - and a lot more health.

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  58. Always late to the party, I am. Your flower photos are always spectacular, like your sunsets. But what I really want to know as a relatively harmless older gentleman from the Northern Hemisphere is this: Where is the line between plain old phallic and remarkably phallic? And have I crossed it? Ever? If I were a drinking man you would now have me weeping into my alcoholic beverage.

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    1. rhymeswithplague: I suspect that phallic and remarkably phallic are in the eye of the beholder. So your question is one I cannot answer. I hope that Mrs RWP's response dries your tears.

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  59. HAPPY NEW YEAR, Sue!

    It's somehow comforting that something as prickly as a cactus can have such beautiful flowers. If we're lucky, maybe it's prove true of the prickly people who are gonna be in charge of the world, too. :)

    Now, I'm remembering an old movie called "Cactus Flower"...

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    1. Susan: And a very Happy New Year to you and yours. As a (sometimes) prickly person I hope there is beauty in it.

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  60. The cactus flowers are stunning!!!
    Happy new year..

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    1. krishna: Welcome and thank you. A very Happy New Year to you and yours.

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  61. So beautiful! My neighbor has a prickly pear cactus that blooms yellow after a rain. Happy New Year!

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    1. Carol Kilgore: You have me thinking now. I don't think I have ever seen a prickly pear in flower. Stalls at our local markets sell the fruit, but I haven't seen them in bloom.

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  62. Happy New Year. Slang around the world is so varied and interesting. These photos were beautiful. Great selection.

    QueendSheena
    2017 IWSG January Co-Host

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    1. Sheena-kay Graham: Welcome and thank you. Slang is endlessly fascinating isn't it?

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  63. Nope, that is a totally phallic off-shoot. Almost gratuitous. Totally gratuitous by plant standards.

    How did 'cactus' come to mean such a depressing thing in Australia? Just because they grow where almost everything else dies?

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    1. John Wiswell: I don't know where our usage of cactus came from. Mind you, some of our slang is such that I don't want to know where it comes from. Budgie smugglers for example.

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  64. A very happy, prosperous, and insightful New Year to you tool. You have got to be one of the most thoughtful and kind bloggers I have met, for that I am truly grateful.

    Love your cacti pictures. I love cacti all succuluents really, they are so easy to keep.

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    1. farawayeyes: Thank you so much. Cacti are easy plants on the whole, and their blooms are a gift. A big gift.

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  65. What gorgeous photography. Thank you for sharing. Happy New Year!

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    1. Olivia Rose: Thank you. And a very happy New Year to you and yours.

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  66. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU. i AM HOME NOW AND RECOEVERING FROM THE LONG FLIGHTS. Many thanks for comenting while I was in Malawi, I appreciate that very much. These flower shots are fabulous.

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    1. Margaret Adamson: Welcome home and a very Happy New Year to you.

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  67. Wow! I've never seen cacti like this before. Normally they're so barren (with the exception of Prickly Pear)

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    1. Robert Bennett: For most of the year these are barren too.

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  68. Totally, totally spectacular! How would you describe the scent of the large cactus bloom? I'm imagining something sweet but could be completely wrong.

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    1. Kim: It is sweet, but not overpowering. Muted honeysuckle?

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  69. Amazing what beauty lies in the seemingly barren desert, though I have to say I wouldn't want that first cactus anywhere near my nether regions!

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    1. Molly Bon: That first cactus bites hard. Not only are the spikes vicious it has teeny weeny hairs as well. Which go in, break off and fester. Probably its (occasional) beauty is the only thing which has allowed it to survive on our veranda.

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  70. these BEAUTIFUL flowers seem truly treat for eyes from new year dear friend !!!
    thank you for bringing such pretty colors to senses ,so delightful .
    wishing you a very HAPPY new year my friend !

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    1. baili: Thank you so much. I hope your year is wonderful. And all the years to come.

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  71. My curiosity is aroused, what's the treat Sunday? Have I missed your birthday? And if not when is it? I didn't note it on the calendar..and should have.

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    1. Sandra Cox: It is a birthday treat - but not mine. Himself's. And you will have to wait. Wednesday?

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  72. Oh how I love cactus. I am surprised their flowers can be so pretty! You always have me saying that lol

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    1. Kim@stuffcould...: The contrast is amazing isn't it?

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  73. Replies
    1. The Happy Whisk: They are. And we have one more to come. Probably tonight, while we are away...

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  74. How did I miss these before?! Love them! I'm a cactus nut. These are amazing!

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    1. Paper Chipmunk (aka Ellen): They are an incredible bloom aren't they? Worth waiting for each year.

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