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| 9/1/2012, Saguaro National Park East, Tucson, Arizona |
Spotted several nice cacti flowers last week. The red fish hook cacti above is right outside my home office window. It was a naturally occuring cacti started by a passing bird that I relocated away from my foundation to its current location. Seems to have tolerated the move just fine.
And the rest of these guys were taken Friday at a brief stop at Tucson Botanical Gardens...
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.
I dropped by Tucson Botanical Gardens for lunch today and took a few pictures. Lots of flowers blooming. Tucson springtime (and pollen counts, sneeze) is here. I was intrigued by this flower in particular, very complex. Any of you plant people out there know what this is?
This is the saguaro arm I've been following in previous posts now starting to bloom. Each night a few of the buds will open into 3 inch diameter flowers to be pollinated by the three Bs: Bats, Birds, and Bees. Later in the day the flower will close forever and begin to create what will be a 3 inch oval red fruit.
I joined friends GT & PT for a nice hike today up the Wild Burro Canyon and Alamo Spring trails in NE Tucson Metro (about 8.5 miles roundtrip). Palo Verde, cholla, prickly pear, hedgehog, ocotillo were all still blooming and the saguaros were just starting to bloom -- most were still getting buds ready to bloom. The above picture shows a palo verde tree still in a bright yellow bloom.
I guess I'm still working the bugs out of the new camera... We ran into several of the above insects roaming around in the sandy wash. I don't believe I've ever seen these before... Anyone have any idea what they are? Update: It is an Iron Cross Blister Beatle -- not one to handle or eat. For some more info check out notes on it at the Firefly Forest.
The ocotillo up here were putting on quite a show. Most of the ocotillo were leafless -- but just a little bit of rain and these sticks will be covered with fresh green leaves in a few days, only to drop them again shortly after the soil drys out again.
Which way? Oh, ok, thank you kindly Mr. Saguaro.
This low hanging saguaro arm is really budding out getting ready for the bloom!
Orange cholla flowers
We ran into a bunch of these poppy'ish looking flowers along the trail. Very pretty and really stood out against the other ground cover. [Update: grannyj has identified this as a "Mariposa Lily"]
When I uploaded this picture from my camera I did a double-take... This looks like one of those camera or photoshop special effects where you emphasize one color and drop out the rest. But no no no... I assure you this is a full color picture and the cholla really was that drab and its one flower really stands out this much!
Here is a closer shot of the cholla flower shown in the previous picture.
I really like purple thistles. I usually see bumble bees on patches like this one, no such today.
Here's GT & PT headed on down the Alamo Spring Trail and back to the car, shade, water, and food! It was starting to get hot out -- Tucson hit the low 90's today -- time to start thinking about heading to the high ground in the surrounding pines for summer hikes.
Ran into this rowdy bunch on the hike out. Not sure if they were giving us a hard time for thinking it was getting hot... Then again, they may have just been watching the game on a secluded TV stashed behind the bolder.
I drove by these purple and orange blooming cacti today and had to pull over to take a few pictures. I'm not sure, but I think they are both forms of hedgehog cacti.
Below is the saguaro arm that I pass by daily. It is really going to town sending out flower buds! I'm guessing another couple of days before the first bloom.
These are flower buds on the tip of a saguaro arm. Each of the white fuzzy areas will have a bud emerge, grow, eventually bloom into a really nice white flower, close, and then grow into a red fruit enjoyed by birds and people. I took this shot standing on a rock looking down on the arm. Cabbages, anyone?
Cholla cacti on my side of town are budded out and just beginning to bloom.
The ocotillo have been in full bloom for a couple of weeks and are going strong, looking like torches. Depending on the soil and amount of water present, some plants have no leaves at all and are just bright flowers at the end of seemingly dead sticks; while other plants are fully leafed out. Leaves or no leaves, they are healthy plants.
