I happened upon these twin prickly pear blossoms a couple of weeks ago. Usually prickly pear flowers in the foothills are a fairly uniform yellow, but the twins have a series of fine peach-colored lines that radiate from their centers.
My favorite prickly pear flowers are those with a red center. They are a small minority most years, but at least a quarter of them have had red centers this spring.
The blossom above, with its quintessentially New Mexican colors, is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.