The Whole Enchilada

I've done a lot of close-ups of flowers from various cacti but I don't think I've shown you what an entire cactus in bloom looks like.

This is a mature Santa Rita prickly pear cactus.  The one with the green and purple-ish pads.

I took this close-up of the very small one in my backyard that didn't bear any fruit.  You can see the pads clearly.

They seem to stay in bloom longer than the other cacti.  Either that or they just produce so many more flowers it seems like they are always full.

Look at how many more buds have yet to bloom!  Take a closer look.