Easter Lily cacti

I dropped by Mesquite Valley Growers nursery today to pick up a few fresh patio plants and found that their Easter Lily cacti were in bloom.

I was watching a TV show the other day and heard a plant person say that the only color flower that you can't find on a cactus is blue. Anyone know if that's the case? I don't think I've seen a blue one...

Talk about a crown of color!

They have a nice selection of fountains. I'd like to add a fountain someday to my backyard. I've gotten rid of a small patch of grass around my patio and am trying to figure out what I want to do with things there.

This is one of several varieties of catclaw found at the nursery. They don't seem too serious about selling them... Seems they are always found at a different location than the last time I visited, and then often out of the way. This fellow was resting behind a bunch of pots. Seems like a great place to be a mouser / guard cat / greeter.

mam moth

This is a giant moth inside the Tucson Botanical Gardens butterfly aviary last week. Wingspan of 8-9 inches, abdomen at least as big as my thumb. Big.

I wonder if they prey on sheep? *smile* I know if I was wearing a wool coat and saw one of these I'd be running for cover!

chasing butterflies

I dropped in on Tucson Botanical Gardens again today while out running errands. I wanted to see what new types of butterflies they might have flying around in their exhibit. Here are a few snaps I took today. Amazing patterns and camouflage! As usual, you can click on pics to get a little closer view.

This one was interesting. It appears to have lines in its pattern that make it look like legs on this side of the butterfly.

Pretty cool yellow/orange tips on the antenae. They almost look like hot glowing metal pokers pulled from a blacksmith's forge.

This is a "Dead Leaf" butterfly. Wings closed (above) it really does look like a dead leaf. Wings open (below) its quite colorful.

weeding, whiting, withnotick

This is one of the many volunteer plants or weeds that were in my yard back in March. Most of them are actually pretty interesting plants, just a little too prolific to let run loose.

April Flowers

nesting instinct is hardwired

stone and wire garden sculpture at Tucson Botanical Gardens