First wave of cactus flowers, mid-April 2026

Early to mid-April is prime time for echinopsis flowers. We’re a bit late this year compared to 2025, but my (im)patient waiting has finally paid off: This past week, we had 15 different echinopsis hybrids flower, some for the first time.

1. Echinopsis ‘Celeste’
2. Echinopsis ‘Daydream’
3. Echinopsis ‘Dream Catcher’
4. Echinopsis ‘First Light’
5. Echinopsis ‘Flying Saucer’
6. Echinopsis ‘For Norma’
7. Echinopsis ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’ [‘Magic Fire’]
8. Echinopsis ‘Pink Diamond’
9. Echinopsis ‘Pink Stripes’
10. Echinopsis ‘Salmon Queen’
11. Echinopsis ‘Shades of Bourne’
12. Echinopsis ‘Sleeping Beauty’
13. Echinopsis ‘Tondelayo’
14. Echinopsis ‘Wessner 368’
15. Echinopsis ‘Yellow’

Southern California cactus grower and hybridizer Brent Wigand, my source for many of these beauties, has thousands of echinopsis in his nursery. He posted videos of his 2026 Megabloom just last week (you can watch them here and here). It’s a spectacle not to be missed.

Because of the relatively cool weather we had in the last few days (highs in the low to mid-70s), the flowers lasted longer than I had expected — some three days. If it had been hotter, they would have been exhausted after a day, two at the most. I’m so happy we got to enjoy an extended flower parade.

Echinopsis ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’

I took a lot of photos, starting in the morning when the cacti were still in the shade, and continuing into the afternoon. Some flowers look noticeably different in the shade vs. full sun. In the shade, the colors tend to be much softer, with pastel tones dominating. In the sun, they get a lot punchier. None of the photos below are filtered or artificially saturated; all I did was increase the contrast when the lighting was too flat.

I often get asked whether and how I fertilize my echinopsis. I use a balanced slow-release fertilizer like Osmocote 14-14-14 in March and again in June (it’s expensive, but a little bit goes a long way), supplemented by an application of bloom fertilizer like Espoma Flower-Tone after each wave of flowers. That seems to do the trick for me.

Note on taxonomy: There’s quite a bit of confusion about Echinopsis vs. Trichocereus. Technically, Echinopsis (and Echinopsis hybrids) are fairly small globe-shaped cacti, while Trichocereus (and Trichocereus hybrids) form tall columnar stems. Trichocereus was lumped into Echinopsis in 1974. In 2012, genetic analysis found that the two genera have divergent lineages, meaning they’re not as closely related as once thought. As a result, Trichocereus was restored as a genus, and it would be more correct taxonomically to refer to hybrids like ‘First Light’ and ‘Flying Saucer’ as Trichocereus. But often the parentage is murky and most likely involves both Echinopsis and Trichocereus (or even other genera), so for the sake of convenience I continue to refer to all of them as Echinopsis hybrids.

On that note, let’s take a look.

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Echinopsis ‘Celeste’

Hybridizer: Bob Schick, USA

Flower size: 4 inches

Note: Huntington introduction (ISI 2000-5)
[more info on the Schick hybrids available through the Huntington]

Echinopsis ‘Celeste’

Echinopsis ‘Celeste’

Echinopsis ‘Daydream’

Hybridizer: Bob Schick, USA

Flower size: 4 inches

Note: Huntington introduction (ISI 98-7)
[more info on the Schick hybrids available through the Huntington]

Echinopsis ‘Daydream’

Echinopsis ‘Daydream’

Echinopsis ‘Dream Catcher’

Hybridizer: Brent Wigand, USA

Flower size: 6 inches

Note: To see more of Brent’s plants, visit his group Torchcactus on Facebook.

Echinopsis ‘Dream Catcher’

Echinopsis ‘First Light’

Hybridizer: Mark Dimmitt, USA

Flower size: 5 inches

Note: Echinopsis ‘First Light’ is a perennial favorite. It was created by Tucson plant breeder Mark Dimmitt. It’s a cross between two other hybrids: ‘Diehl’sche Hybride’ (Echinopsis candicans × Echinopsis eyriesii var. grandiflora) and ‘Newlands Orange’ (Echinopsis huascha ‘Gold’ × Echinopsis huascha ‘Red’).

Echinopsis ‘First Light’ just beginning to open up

Echinopsis ‘First Light’

Echinopsis ‘First Light’

Echinopsis ‘First Light’

Echinopsis ‘First Light’ later the same morning

Echinopsis ‘First Light’ later in the afternoon of day 2...

...all flowers open

The only thing I don’t like is the lamp post on the left

Echinopsis ‘Flying Saucer’

Hybridizer: Hans Britsch, USA

Flower size: 6-9 inches

Note: ‘Flying Saucer’ is a perennial favorite of garden visitors and passers-by (and my wife and me). It’s a hybrid between an unidentified Soehrensia species and Trichocereus schickendantzii. It was created by Hans Britsch at his nursery, Western Cactus Growers, in Vista, California. ‘Flying Saucer’ is by far the best known and most popular of all Echinopsis/Trichocereus hybrids. More info on ‘Flying Saucer’ here.

So many buds, so much promise

Day 1, shorter stem going off first

Day 2, both stems in flower

Day 2

Day 3

Day 3

Looks like a coronal mass ejection

Native bees love these large flowers

Finally, the party is over

Echinopsis ‘For Norma’

Hybridizer: Bob Schick, USA

Flower size: 5 inches

Note: Huntington introduction (ISI 2015-02)
[more info on the Schick hybrids available through the Huntington]

Echinopsis ‘For Norma’

Echinopsis ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’ [aka ‘Magic Fire’]

Hybridizer: Reinhard Liske, Germany

Flower size: 6 inches

Note: Flowering for me for the first time, this is my 2026 favorite. It’s from the same breeder as ‘Pink Stripes’, my 2025 favorite. The original German name is ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’, but in the U.S. it’s often referred to as ‘Magic Fire’. ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’ has the same parentage as ‘Pink Stripes’ (‘Wörlitz’ × ‘Cantora Gelb’) and is, in fact, from the same seed batch. Two spectacular hybrids created at the same time. What are the odds of that?

Day 1:

Echinopsis ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’, three perfect flowers on day 1

Echinopsis ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’

Echinopsis ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’

Echinopsis ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’

Day 2:

Two more buds opened on day 2, for a total of 5 big flowers. Because of the moderate daytime temperatures (low 70s), the flowers lasted longer than they otherwise would have.

I know I went a bit overboard with these photos...

...but it’s such a sensational flower

Echinopsis ‘Pink Diamond’

Hybridizer: Bob Schick

Flower size: 4 inches

Note: Huntington introduction (ISI 97-23)
[more info on the Schick hybrids available through the Huntington]

Echinopsis ‘Pink Diamond’

Echinopsis ‘Pink Diamond’

Echinopsis ‘Pink Diamond’

Echinopsis ‘Pink Stripes’

Hybridizer: Reinhard Liske, Germany

Flower size: 6 inches

Note: ‘Wörlitz’ × ‘Cantora Gelb’. Flowered last year for the first time and was my 2025 favorite. From the same seed batch as ‘Liskes Feuerzauber’, my 2026 favorite (see above).

Echinopsis ‘Pink Stripes’

Echinopsis ‘Pink Stripes’

Echinopsis ‘Salmon Queen’

Hybridizer: Harry Johnson, USA

Flower size: 3-4 inches

Note: Harry Johnson was a Southern California breeder who created a lot of different hybrids in many different colors from the 1930s through the 1960s. He died in 1987 at the age of 95. Here is an interesting write-up about him. Johnson’s work was the basis for many hybrids created by Bob Schick starting in the 1970s.

Echinopsis ‘Salmon Queen’

Echinopsis ‘Shades of Bourne’

Hybridizer: Southfield Nurseries, UK

Flower size: 4 inches

Note: Southfield Nurseries in Morton, Lincolnshire have created dozens of echinopsis hybrids named after the nearby town of Bourne.

Echinopsis ‘Shades of Bourne’

Echinopsis ‘Shades of Bourne’

Echinopsis ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Hybridizer: Bob Schick, USA

Flower size: 4-5 inches

Note: Huntington introduction (ISI 97-28). Very fragrant; probably the most fragrant hybrid I have.
[more info on the Schick hybrids available through the Huntington]

Echinopsis ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Echinopsis ‘Sleeping Beauty’

Echinopsis ‘Tondelayo’

Hybridizer: Bob Schick, USA

Flower size: 5 inches

Note: Huntington introduction (ISI 97-34)
[more info on the Schick hybrids available through the Huntington]

Echinopsis ‘Tondelayo’

Echinopsis ‘Tondelayo’

Echinopsis ‘Tondelayo’

Echinopsis ‘Wessner 368’

Hybridizer: Andreas Wessner, Germany

Flower size: 3-4 inches

Note: Andreas Wessner’s website: https://kakteen-shop.com/. I was debating whether this hybrid is special enough; it does look like so many other hybrids, and the flowers are on the small side. Garden real estate is at a premium, and each plant has to earn its keep. The jury’s still out on this one...

Echinopsis ‘Wessner 368’

Echinopsis ‘Wessner 368’

Echinopsis ‘Yellow’

Hybridizer: ???

Flower size: 3 inches

Note: I received this plant from a friend. It’s fairly basic as far as echinopsis hybrids go (it doesn’t even have a real name), but I want to include it here to demonstrate how the flower color can change from one day to the next. The petal shape is nice, too. I’ll hang on to this one for a while; a clump with multiple flowers could be very nice.

Day 1, pure clear yellow

Day 2, mango orange

Finally, here’s a photo of the sidewalk bed where much of this action has been happening:

Except it doesn’t look quite like that. There’s a streetlight right in the middle:

I can’t make the lamp post go away in real life, but I can in photos thanks to the magic of Photoshop.

© Gerhard Bock, 2026. All rights reserved. To receive all new posts by email, please subscribe here.