Easy to grow, weird-looking cacti are not just thorny and prickly–There are some Flowering Cactus Plants that grow the most beautiful blossoms! Cacti are always going to be in trend, the outstanding range of color, size, and shapes they come in. But wait, if you thought that cacti are just green and thorny, then you are wrong! There are many amazing flowering cactus plants that can throw strong competition to your other flowering shrubs and plants!
Best Flowering Cactus Plants
1- Spiny Pincushion Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria spinosissima
Flowering Time: Spring
Native to Mexico, it forms a cluster of columnar or spherical stems and develops funnel-shaped bright pink blooms. The central spines are red-brown or yellow in color.
2- Spider Cactus
Botanical Name: Gymnocalycium oehnanthemum x horstii
Flowering Time: Summer
This flowering cactus variety is stumpy with long and unique curly spines. It produces large pink flowers and is one of the best flowering cactus plants on the list!
3- Lincoln Gem Cactus
Botanical Name: Chamaelobivia ‘Lincoln Gem’
Flowering Time: Summer and Winter
It is a fast-growing flowering cactus variety that produces clumps of columnar long stems, and beautiful bright yellow flowers.
4- Claret Cup Cactus
Botanical Name: Echinocereus triglochidiatus
Flowering Time: Summer
It produces charmingly bright, orange-colored blooms atop green spiny cactus. The fruits of these cacti are juicy and taste like strawberries.
5- Mammillaria Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria guelzowiana
Flowering Time: Summer
The globe-shaped cactus is covered with spines and produces bell-shaped, fragrant bright pink-purple flowers.
6- Powder Puff Cactus
Botanical Name: Parodia nivosa
Flowering Time: Summer
Powder Puff is a small cactus coated with long white spines. This attractive specimen offers bright red-orange flowers.
7- Rosy Pincushion Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria zeilmanniana
Flowering Time: Summer
Rosy Pincushion Cactus got its common name due to the prolific pretty pink flowers that appear, on and off, during the entire year.
8- Schlosser Cactus
Botanical Name: Parodia schlosseri
Flowering Time: Summer
Also known as ‘Notocactus Schlosseri’, this spherical variety has coppery-spines and produces lemon-yellow flowers.
9- Twin-Spine Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria geminispina
Flowering Time: Summer
Twin-Spine is a rounded and mounding variety, covered with silver spines. The plant grows attractive pink flowers. It is one of the best flowering cactus plants on the list!
10- Dwarf Turk’s Cap Cactus
Botanical Name: Melocactus matanzanus
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
Native to Cuba, this cactus type is endangered in the wild. It is a tiny variety and slow grower, crowned by copper-hued spines and pink blossoms.
11- Sulcorebutia Cactus
Botanical Name: Sulcorebutia albissima
Flowering Time: Late Spring
The small, rounded, cold-tolerant compact plant has a mass of tightly crisscross spines and grows abundant, vivid pink flowers!
12- Balloon Cactus
Botanical Name: Notocactus magnificus
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
Spines and wool fill the ribs of the unique globes of this cactus. Place it outside for the development of its sulfur-yellow flowers.
13- Bishop’s Hat Cactus
Botanical Name: Astrophytum myriostigma
Flowering Time: Summer
Contrary to other cacti, it doesn’t have any spines that make it a pain-less handling experience. It offers yellow flowers and sometimes features a red center.
14- Monk’s Hood Cactus
Botanical Name: Astrophytum ornatum
Flowering Time: Summer
Native to the canyons and limestone cliffs of Mexico, this easy-to-grow, fast-growing cacti features white flakes on its ribbed stem and produces pretty yellow flowers.
15- Mammillaria dasyacantha Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria laui v. dasyacantha
Flowering Time: Summer
Coated in wool-like, white-spines, it produces striking pink flowers with a yellow center. Give it the right growing condition and see it covered in pink!
16- Aylostera Cactus
Botanical Name: Rebutia narvaecensis
Flowering Time: Spring
Large, pink flowers on a small spherical plant look eye-catching! It seeds freely to form charming, clumping groups. It is one of the best flowering cactus plants on the list!
17- Aylostera narvaecensis Cactus
Botanical Name: Rebutia heliosa
Flowering Time: Spring
This small cactus is native to Bolivia and has dark green foliage contrasting with white spines. The daisy-like blooms open in stunning orange color.
18- Golden Barrel Cactus
Botanical Name: Echinocactus grusonii
Flowering Time: Summer and Fall
Native to Mexico, it forms a globe-shaped structure and has bright green stems with spiked ribs. The contrasting yellow-colored areoles pair well with bright yellow blooms.
19- Old Lady Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria hahniana
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
Mammillaria genus is native to the desert areas of Mexico. It forms a cluster of columnar or spherical stems and carries beautiful funnel-shaped pink flowers.
20- Chin Cactus
Botanical Name: Gymnocalycium neuhuberi
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
It’s a round-shaped, blue-green cactus with slightly curved spines that show a rich amber shade when young, before fading to cream. It forms fragrant and fuchsia-colored blooms.
21- Mexican Fire Barrel Cactus
Botanical Name: Ferocactus pilosus
Flowering Time: Summer and Fall
This beautiful variety is distinguished by red thick spines. At the initial stage, it has a globular shape and eventually grows tall. Grows red and yellow flowers.
22- Christmas Cactus
Botanical Name: Schlumbergera bridgesii
Flowering Time: Winter
Native to South America, this succulent produces flat, small rounded stem segments with minor notches on both sides. Beautiful pink and red flowers emerge from these ends.
23- Fairy Castle Cactus
Botanical Name: Acanthocereus tetragonus
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
Each stem of this miniature columnar cactus has five sides, with short white spines growing along the ribs. It blooms white or yellow flowers.
24- Starfish Cactus
Botanical Name: Stapelia grandiflora
Flowering Time: Summer
Also known as a carrion flower, these soft-stemmed plants are spine-less and have thick skin. They produce beautiful five-petaled red to brown flowers.
25- Easter Cactus
Botanical Name: Hatiora gaertneri
Flowering Time: Spring
This beautiful spring-flowering variety is popular for its bright red blooms that appear during the time of Easter, hence the name!
26- Dwarf Easter Cactus
Botanical Name: Hatiora rosea
Flowering Time: Spring
Related with ‘Hatiora gaertneri,’ this compact and bushy plant is native to Brazil. It grows abundant and aromatic rose-pink flowers.
27- Ladyfinger Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria elongata
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
Also known as gold lace cactus, this diminutive variety grows in a way that resembles ladyfinger, hence the name. It produces beautiful white flowers.
28- Beavertail Cactus
Botanical Name: Optunia basilaris
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
This prickly pear cactus, with blue-green pads, and grows glowing, dark cherry pink blooms that smell like watermelon.
29- Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus
Botanical Name: Echinocereus engelmanii
Flowering Time: Summer
Also known as a purple torch and saint’s cactus, it has small free-branching erect stems, covered with ornamental spines. Produces tubular magenta to pale pink flowers.
30- Orchid Cactus
Botanical Name: Epiphyllum hybrids or Phyllocactus
Flowering Time: Summer
This variety is admired for striking 4-inch flowers available in pink, red, white, orange, and yellow shades. It’s primarily grown in hanging baskets.
31- Rat Tail Cactus
Botanical Name: Aporocactus flagelliformis
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
This showy cactus has long trailing stems and blooms wide tubular violet-red flowers or sometimes in eccentric shades like pink and orange.
32- Mammillaria Polyedra Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria polyedra
Flowering Time: Summer and Winter
It starts as a single plant and grows into clusters. You can also grow it with other succulents where it’ll look great with its tiny flowers in red-pink colors!
33- Silver Torch Cactus
Botanical Name: Cleistocactus strausii
Flowering Time: Spring and Summer
An award-winning variety, it forms slender erect columns in a gorgeous shade of white-silver and grows cute magenta-colored flowers.
34- Crested Twin Spined Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria geminispina nobilis f. cristata
Flowering Time: Summer and Fall
One of the most famous cacti, popular for its display of dense white spines with very fine hair that gives it a feel of wool. Grows flowers in pink-red hues with dark midveins.
35- Mammillaria laui Cactus
Botanical Name: Mammillaria laui dasyacantha
Flowering Time: Summer
A compact specimen, its slender central spines are soft to touch. The plant produces large flowers, when compared to its size, in deep pink color.
36- Lobivia Cactus
Botanical Name: Lobivia famatimensis
Flowering Time: Summer
A small variety but packs quite a punch when it comes to its canary yellow flowers! Grows in a globular to a cylindrical shape.
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