Mammillaria bombycina

Mammillaria bombycina -'silky' - is known for over 100 years. Pink flowers appear in early spring, paking pretty plants even prettier.
This species is easy in culture and common. Larger multy-headed plants are especially attractive, white with axile wool with contrasty red hooks.

Stenocactus coptogonus

Stenocacti are among the early bloomers in my greenhouse. This S. coptogonus has not seen first watering yet, shivered after winter 'drought'. That of cause did not stop it from following the call of nature and celebrating spring with the crown of pretty flowers.

This young plant belongs to one of the long-spinned forms, and to stimulate the spines development is placed at the most sunny spot in the greenhouse. All Stenocacti a very heat and sun tolerant.

Echinocereus pacificus

Echinocereus pacificus is the first Echinocereus to bloom for me this year. It is a species of small clumping plants, flowering young. Nice orange-red flowers are still couple days ahead, so here is a picture of buds themselves.
There is certain harmony in their spiny form.

Mammillaria moelleriana 'cowperi'

Hooked Mammillarias is a large group of plants, easily recognizable and with time somewhat boring, as many plants are much look alike.
Mammillaria moelleriana is among the prettier in that group, but the pictured plant is different from common moellerianas: yellow-spinned and pale-yellowish flowered.

Mammillria microhelia

Mammillria microhelia is a popular plant, often available from garden centers. When grown in strong light conditions, it forms dense spine coverage, eventually clumping. Bonus pink-yellow flowers are easily produced in spring.
Mammillria microhelia is closely related to Mammillaria elongata, another very popular plant, and probably deserves a subspecies status, along with another relative Mammillaria mieheana. Mammillaria elongata was described almost 100 years earlier and that name would take the precedence.

Mammillaria albilanata

Mammillaria albilanata is a classic 'white Mammillaria', first description is published by Backeberg in 1939. It used to be a well known and popular species, somewhat out of fashion now days.
The two plants in the picture are young seedlings, grown from Mesa Garden supplied seeds, and now blooming at the first time. They only started developing the white axil 'wool' that will eventually wrap the stems.

Mammillaria perezdelarosae

Mammillaria perezdelarosae is a very pretty plant, tiny in n nature, but slowly grows larger in culture.
This is winter-flowering species, bud production is triggered by short days. Larger plants will also produce flowers in the summer.
This species is somewhat slow but not too difficult in culture, seeds and plants can be purchased from specialized nurseries with some effort.

Eriosyce subgibbosa

February in California means spring is here.
This E.subgibbosa plant always blooms in the winter. It has typical Neoporteria flowers, quite alien looking among other Cactaceae blooms.
Neoporteria subgibbosa is a species with notable variable spination among plants from different localities, spines always strong, making plants hard to handle safely.
Note double-bud per areole production this plant demonstrates, uncommon feature among cacti plants.