It’s no secret Claret Cup cactus flowers are my favorite cactus flowers to photograph. With such a short window to capture these beauties, timing is of the essence! After the cactus carnage that took place to my beloved plants in the Colorado xeriscape gardens I’d frequent, I’d be starting at ground zero to find them around Santa Fe.
One of my favorite hiking trails around Santa Fe is where I first encountered these plants back in 2016. As my story goes, I initially mistook a blooming Claret Cup cactus for an empty bag of Doritos! Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of red and thought “what the heck is that?” Upon closer inspection it was this vibrant, red blooming plant. I had not even gotten my mirrorless camera yet, but made a mental note to return to photograph them.
During that time, little by little I would spot more of them. They can be a bit elusive and tricky to find if you don’t know where to look.
Now back in Santa Fe, I was on a mission to retrace my steps and attempt to reunite with these precious wonders so I could photograph them once again.
It became no small challenge, but so worth the explorative journey!
The vibrant, red color is incredible. And when you’re able to get this close to them, albeit their long, white spines, they just make you smile!
Around the Neighborhood
I’m a BIG advocate for exploring one’s neighborhood on foot. From recently discovering the little long headed poppies, I had scouted a few Claret Cup plants in folks front yards. Thankfully they were accessible enough without being intrusive onto people’s property. Furthermore, I’d let folks I encountered during my walking explorations that I was a flower photographer and not some creepy stalker with a camera. In doing so, I found folks to be very receptive to my flower photography exploits.
One Claret Cup plant in particular stood out and I had been observing since April. Little by little it was changing till it was literally covered in nubby red buds. I had never seen such a small plant so well-endowed with buds! I knew it was only days away before an explosion of flowers would take place. And it did!! The light was a bit wonky, but there was no way I was going to let that stop me from capturing this cactus flower explosion.
This incredible neighborhood plant is now noted on my calendar for next year. Fingers crossed the light will be better when it’s in full bloom!
The Cactus Demonstration Garden
Discovering the Cactus Demonstration Garden in Santa Fe by accident was a treasure trove! However, as I’m still navigating what blooms when, my timing was a bit off to capture the barrel cactus flowering in their full glory. I did get a few photos though. Again I’ve noted on my calendar that I gotta begin getting out to this garden starting around the middle of May.
As you can see by the photo above, there are countless varieties of cactus plants including multiple barrel cactus.
With so many varieties of cactus plants every couple of days will yield something new blooming. I found that out rather quickly. And for cactus flower photography afficionados like myself it’s pure gold. But once again, timing is everything!! Once these plants get a move on, there’s no stopping them from flowering!
Fingers-crossed I get it right next year cuz I was bummed at how much I actually missed this year. At least I was able to capture this one decent photo. Definitely grateful for that!
Out In the Wild…
While finding blooming Claret Cup plants around the neighborhood and at public gardens is great, it’s “out in the wild” that is my fav. It’s like finding them on their home turf. I call it foraging for cactus photos. And it takes some serious sleuthing!
Once again timing is of the essence with a window from about mid-May till about the first week of June. Doing my best to retrace my steps from memory on the hiking trails where I first saw them was no small task. One plant I happened to stumble across was growing in a sandy wash. A tricky walk down an embankment had me face to face with this little gem. This actually became the first “wild” plant I found and it was keeping company with a prickly pear plant. Plunking down my handy-dandy little tarp and happy as a clam, I began clicking away. Apparently I got a bit too close to the prickly pear which offered up my first cactus spine piercing of the season. No harm, no foul 🙂
Determined on my pursuits to find the plants in the locations I could remember, I continued on. Initially I could not find any of them. The landscape had obviously changed a bit since 2016, but I kept looking. Then as if history was repeating itself, out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of red close to the ground. It was like the eureka moment or cactus flower gold in my case!! I was over the moon and again promptly sat down to indulge my senses it photographing these vibrant, red gifts of Nature. They were perfect and my timing was spot on too!!
By continuing to scour a particular area, I found several more plants too. There are still some other trails to explore where I saw plants previously, but that will have to wait till next year. At that moment I was so content and grateful for what I had found.
Photographing these flowers is addictive. Sitting on the ground capturing these moments makes me humble to the wonders of Nature!
Budding Happily Hidden Under a Pine Tree
There was one other area on the north side of town where I recalled seeing some of these Claret Cup plants. However, upon my first visit back to the area to explore it yielded nothing. I was bummed as I clearly remember at least 4 or 5 plants – even more so cuz I had photographed them in bloom. Perhaps the elements had gotten to them? Who is to say?? But this time I opted to explore a bit more off trail and low and behold budding happily under a pine tree was this precious little plant!
Perhaps the shade from the tree had kept it from blooming yet? But it was perfect with its nubby red buds! Looking around other pine trees I discovered another plant. Bingo! I had struck gold yet again!!
The time for photographing these small wonders has passed. However, I’m now better equipped for next season. Hopefully Mother Nature will be kind and they’ll have lots of blooms next year!!
If you like Claret Cup Cactus flowers, be sure to check out these posts too:
● Barrel Cactus Blooms with their Waxy Red Flowers
● White Sands Claret Cups Cactus Flowers
● Red Claret Cups Cactus Flowers Bloom Brightly