Watch: Gorgeous time-lapse of flowers that bloom and die in a day

Nothing captures the big, beautiful bummer of mortality quite like an Echinopsis cactus.

One of the many plants that flower for only a day before their blooms wilt and die, these cacti are an obsession for Greg Krehel. The professional software consultant and amateur flower freak captures their brief bloom in gorgeous time-lapse videos, which he posts to Instagram and other social media.

Since he first discovered the cactus about five years ago, Krehel has collected over 100 varities in his home in Jacksonville, Florida, reports the New York Times. Krehel writes on his site of his beloved bloomers: “The colors of many Echinopsis flowers are so intense, so saturated, that it’s literally impossible to look at them for more than a few seconds without averting your eyes.”

See a video compilation by the Quartz team above, and some of our favorite Krehel originals below.

15 “Antares” flowers exploding open. Hope you enjoy!! Have a wonderful week. #flower #fleur #timelapse #cactus #echinopsis #blumen #pink

A video posted by E. Freak (@echinopsisfreak) on Sep 14, 2014 at 11:11am PDT

Hello!! Here we have a closeup of a single ‘Volcanic Sunset’ flower opening. 3 progressively closer views of the action. Each clip shows over 8 hours smooshed into a few seconds. On a completely unrelated topic, have you checked out the amazing lighting and furniture designed/made in Los Angeles from @spade_studio? Worth following and better yet owning something by (in my somewhat … okay, very … biased opinion :D). Hope you have a great week ahead! #volcano #sunset #volcanic #cactusflower #cactusflowerfreak #cactus #echinopsis #freak #kaktus #flower #fleur #仙人掌 #サボテン #선인장 #ต้นกระบองเพชร #câyxươngrồng #кактус #kwiat #hoa #bunga #çiçek #ดอกไม้ #цветок #flor #꽃 #花 #fiore #Blume #bloem #květina

A video posted by E. Freak (@echinopsisfreak) on May 30, 2015 at 9:52am PDT

Hello! Today we have two giant ‘Orange California’ flowers. Each is over 8″/20 cm in diameter. Each clip shows 8 hours of opening action in a few seconds. Hope you enjoy! #orange #california #cactus #cactusflower #fleur #flower #Blume #bunga #timelapse #kaktus #květina #kwiat

A video posted by E. Freak (@echinopsisfreak) on Jun 27, 2015 at 9:58am PDT