Cactus blooming
Many cactus flowers open for only a day or two, and some, like the night-blooming cereus, for a single night. When yours finally blooms, take the hint and be present for brief good things while they last.
What it may mean
A cactus can sit on a windowsill for years looking exactly the same, and then, almost overnight, push out a bud and open a flower far larger and brighter than you expected. Many of those flowers last only a day or two; the famous night-blooming cereus opens after dark and wilts by morning. That timing asks something of you. Good moments that come rarely and leave fast slip past easily if you are waiting for a better time to look: the friend in town for one night, the stage of a child's life that is gone by summer, the late light on one particular day. The flower will not wait; the dishes will.
Depending on how you saw it
A bud you almost missed
A cactus bud can sit small and fuzzy for weeks, easy to mistake for a new cluster of spines, before it swells fast in the last few days. What is developing slowly near you that could be mistaken for nothing?
A Christmas cactus in flower
Holiday cacti set buds when nights grow long and cool, which is why they tend to flower around Thanksgiving or Christmas. Their schedule is set by darkness, not by the calendar. Which of your good seasons comes out of the darker months rather than in spite of them?
A flower that opens at night
Night-blooming cacti open their large flowers after dark for moths and bats, and close by the next morning. Most people sleep right through them. What beautiful thing happens around you at hours you are rarely awake to see?
Why it happens in nature
Most cacti flower in spring or summer after a cool, dry rest in winter, and potted plants kept warm and watered all year often refuse to bloom. Many cactus flowers last a single day or a few days, and night-blooming species open after dark for moth and bat pollinators. Holiday cacti bloom in response to long nights and cool temperatures.
To reflect on
Which brief good thing around you deserves your full attention before it closes?