Late Spring to Early Summer Succulent Blooms: A Pictorial Guide

From mid-spring into early summer, cacti dominate the succulent flowering stage, joined by select aloes, euphorbias, crassulads, mesembs, hoyas, and other oddities. This pictorial showcases representative blooms you might see—hundreds more exist, but many are rare or similar. While spring annuals and perennials may outshine them in volume, succulent flowers have a peculiar, fascinating beauty.

Cacti (The Stars of the Season)

Astrophytums in full swing: A. myriostigma, A. asterias, A. capricorne.
Cleistocacti (long-season bloomers): C. samaipatanus, C. ferreanus, C. winteri.
Echinocereus (spring spectaculars): E. reichenbachii, E. subinermis, E. pectinatus, E. gentryi var. sheerii, E. fendleri, E. dasyacanthus.
Large columnar: Carnegiea gigantea (Saguaro), Cereus grenadensis, Echinopsis terscheckii, Pachycereus marginatus, Oreocereus spp., Pilosocereus pachycladus.
Echinopsis (smaller spp. and hybrids): E. ancistrophora and many hybrids.
Hanging cacti: Aporophyllum 'Cascade', Epiphyllum spp. and hybrids ('Giant Empress', 'Campfire', 'Madeline', 'Padre', 'Space Rocket', 'White Splendor', 'Clown').
Gymnocalyciums (summer-long): G. bruchii, G. saglionis, G. hossei, G. horstii, G. monvillei, G. friedrichii.
Mammillarias (on/off since winter): M. magnifica, M. longimamma, M. matudae.
Ferocacti: F. peninsulae, F. viridescens.
Others: Leuchtenbergia principis, Eriosyce napina, Matucana aurantiaca.
Opuntioids (full bloom): Opuntia macrorhiza, O. ficus-indica, O. littoralis, O. microdasys, Nopalea cochenillifera, Cylindropuntia thurberi, Austrocylindropuntia verschaffeltii.
Parodias: P. magnifica, P. roseolata, P. werneri, P. erinacea, P. concinna.
Rebutias: R. heliosa, R. pulchra, R. narvaecensis, R. mentosa, R. krainziana, R. perplexa.

Aloes (Multi-Season Bloomers)

A. aristata, A. buhrii, A. confusa, A. camperi (mass color in May–June), A. cooperi, A. inyangensis, A. dorotheae, A. hemmingii, A. elgonica, A. rabaiensis, A. bussei, A. distans, A. striata, A. ngongensis, A. suzannae (nocturnal), A. porphyrostachys, A. pubescens, A. trichosantha.

Euphorbias (Late Winter to Early Summer)

E. canariensis, E. flanaganii, E. antisyphilitica, E. misera (CA native), E. milii hybrids, E. resinifera, E. gottlebei, E. bupleurifolia, E. perangusta, E. polygona, E. coerulescens (precise late May), E. serrulata, E. caput-medusae, E. inermis var. huttoniae, E. francoisii, E. viguieri, E. xanti, E. knuthii.

Crassulaceae

Aeoniums (into early summer): 'Voodoo', A. simsii hybrids.
Dudleyas (primary season): D. brittonii, D. anthonyi, D. viscida, D. caespitosa, D. pulverulenta (June only), D. palmeri, D. farinosa, D. virens ssp. virens, D. thyrsiflora.
Echeverias: E. setosa, E. lilacina, E. pallida, E. potsiana.
Tylecodons (bloom as leaves drop): T. paniculatus, T. wallichii.
Sedums: S. compressum, S. clavatum.
Cotyledons and Crassula arborescens.

Mesembs

Oscularia deltoides, Lampranthus spp., Drosanthemum spp., D. piquetbergensis.

Hoyas (Tropical Vining Succulents)

H. carnosa 'Hindu Rope', H. obovata, H. cinnamomifolia, H. cumingiana, H. macgillivrayi, H. diptera, H. multiflora, H. limoniaca.

Miscellaneous

Adenium arabicum, Pseudobombax ellipticum (bonsai, shaving-brush flowers), Jatropha multifida, Pachypodium namaquanum hybrids, P. succulentum, P. namaquanum, Puya venusta, Dyckia spp., Fouquieria spp., Hesperaloe nocturna, Gasteria spp., stapeliads, Hoodia gordonii.

All photos by author unless credited (Calif_Sue, EricinSF, Clare_CA, AnniesAnnuals, AbbieOriginal, PanamonCreel, nightowl2, atsich, SRQHoyas).