By "rogue bloom" I mean a flower that appears out of season or out of the usual flowering time for that species.

Got one now, on a spineless prickly pear. Most flower in a 2-3 week period back in early summer. But I've had several rogues this summer, on prickly pear, cholla (which had a couple of flowers in late July!), and even the wild roses (scotch roses).

What causes this? Possibles are night lights -- lot of bright lights in my hood. Other environmental factors -- don't use herbicides or pesticide and neither do I water the cactus. Stress or injury -- don't see any. Biochemical flaw in the flowering mechanism -- how do I observe that? Or, most interestingly, the possibility that rogue flowering may be a genetic strategy for monopolizing pollinators -- but wouldn't this strategy reduce cross pollination? Would that be the "purpose"?

It's real easy with spineless prickly pears to write the date of flowering right on the pear joint with permanent marker. That will show if rogue flowering is linked to a particular plant, joint, or location. Barring super low temps that turn the joint into a mass of rotting jelly, which happens sometimes.

I have a LOT of this prickly pear, all descended from a joint I was given back 45 years ago. Good for study.

Posted on August 16, 2018 03:27 PM by thebark