Life of a cactus flower: Echinopsis ‘June Noon’
Last week, I featured Echinopsis ‘First Light’, which was flowering for the third time this year. Today’s post is all about Echinopsis ‘June Noon’, also flowering for the third time.
The first time ‘June Noon’ bloomed, back in April, it had seven flowers on its tallest stem. The weight was so much that the stem flopped over (see here). The second flush happened when we were in Canada so I missed it. The third flush, which happened a couple of days ago, was just one flower, but what a beauty it was!
This is what it looked like in the morning:
And a few wider shots for context:
As you can see, there are three offsets now (I gave a fourth to a friend). The flower display will be even more impressive next year and beyond when the smaller stems will also produce flowers.
The photos above were taken before the sun hit the bed. The photos below were taken in the full sun.
By early evening, the flower had closed up:
To my great delight, the flower opened up again the next morning:
It made a valiant effort to stay open, but by noon on day 2, there simply wasn’t any energy left and the flower closed up for good. Still, a day and a half isn’t bad but such a large and complex flower.
Just like ‘First Light’, ‘June Noon’ was created by legendary plantsman Mark Dimmitt, former Curator of Botany at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson and renowned for his echinopsis/trichocereus and adenium hybrids. It’s a cross between ‘Dielsche Hybride’ and ‘Newlans Orange’ and was originally released in 1993.
‘June Noon’ is a popular landscaping plant in Arizona, but only rarely seen in California. It’s one of my favorite echinopsis hybrid, and I think it would fly off the shelves if nurseries in California started to carry it.
© Gerhard Bock, 2022. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.
You've definitely converted me! If I ever see it available in CA, I'm going to snag one. It makes me think of buttered popcorn, I love the colors.
ReplyDeleteEverybody has different favorite colors, of course, but yellow always makes me feel good.
DeleteYes, I too love my June Noon! It is so special. We have had Mark Dimmitt speak at the Central Arizona Cactus and Succulent Society meetings. He brought some of his Echinopsis for sale and that is how I got mine!
ReplyDeleteStraight from the source. How cool!
DeleteI got mine from Jeff Moore in Tucson.
Oh yes Jeffery in Tucson has nice ones. He has a couple I want!
DeleteIt's a beauty and it clearly does well in your garden. How long did it take to get so well established?
ReplyDeleteI bought it in May 2021 in a 5 gallon. So a little over a year in the ground.
DeleteMagnificent, and almost in time for the GBBD... One really need to be on their toes not miss those fleeting blooms: you turn your head and they are gone.
ReplyDeleteChavli
I agree, that's a blessing and a curse. It forces you to be observant and in tune with the plant, but if you slack even a day, you might miss out.
Delete‘June Noon’ is the desktop background on my computer! A photo from the original flush, I think it might have been one Heather shared on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteReally? For some reason, that makes me insanely happy :-)
DeleteI'm glad! I change it up frequently. Sometimes it's one of my photos, sometimes something random from the internet, Hoover's photos frequently make the cut... but this one has been in place for quite awhile!
DeleteI had not received your posts since March, so I was very glad to see it again. Thank you for the beautiful photos and information.
ReplyDeleteMeta