Verna and Bob's Weblog

Verna

Devil’s Tongue Cactus Flowers

Once again it is fall in the desert and with it comes the beautiful flowers on our Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cactus. This trio, along with several others, was open today after a nice rainfall yesterday. Click on the image to enlarge.

Ferocactus latispinus is the binomial nomenclature for what is commonly called the Devil’s Tongue cactus. Wikipedia offers the following information about this cactus:

Ferocactus latispinus is a species of barrel cactus native to Mexico. It grows as a single globular light green cactus reaching the dimensions of 30 cm (12 in) in height and 40 cm (16 in) across, with 21 acute ribs. Its spines range from reddish to white in color and are flattened and reach 4 or 5 cm long. Flowering is in late autumn or early winter. The funnel-shaped flowers are purplish or yellowish and reach 4 cm long, and are followed by oval-shaped scaled fruit which reach 2.5 cm (1 in) long.

September 23, 2025 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

A New Camera Lens

My 75-300mm telephoto lens disappeared mysteriously over the last year, basically since we went to view the total solar eclipse near Waco, Texas, last year. The lost lens may eventually turn up, since we’re not generally that lax with keeping and caring for our equipment, but (s-word) happens.

So, in the meantime, before (and if) the old lens shows up, we ordered a new telephoto lens for my Canon EOS Rebel T6i camera, namely a Canon EF100-300mm replacement for the lost lens. To be sure, the new lens is somewhat superior to the old one, since it is lighter, has less chromatic aberration and is more compact than the “lost” lens.

As a quick functional test of the newly received lens, the photo above was taken of a white winged dove that perched on the bird feeder crook in the back of the house. The photo above was taken through the new lens at about a range of fifteen yards and cropped down to feature the bird. Thankfully, there seems to be no signs of chromatic aberration and the bird’s features come through very well.

Now, if the old lens turns up, it will go to one of the local charitable foundations for resale in their thrift store. The new lens, will be available for more shots like this of wildlife or whatever presents itself as we continue to photograph the world around us, both at home and on the road.

June 4, 2025 by Arizona Critters Photography

First Saguaro Cactus Flower of 2025

We posted that this is the first year that this cactus has had flower buds a while back and now the first two have opened on the same cactus. The (clickable) image above is a close up of one of the first two flowers now open.

From LEO AI:

The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is a iconic symbol of the American Southwest. Its flowers are a vibrant white color and bloom only at night, typically in May and June. The flowers are an important food source for various animals, including bats, hummingbirds, and bees. After pollination, the flowers develop into red, fleshy fruit that can take several years to ripen. The fruit is an important food source for desert animals, such as Gila woodpeckers and cactus wrens, which help disperse the seeds by consuming the fruit and then depositing the seeds in a new location.

The other two saguaros on the property are showing flower buds, so we should be getting lots of these beautiful flowers as we progress into May and June. We will likely post more flower photos as they pop up.

UPDATE 05/19/25: The flowers have kept coming and are far from being done at this time. Here’s another close-up of one of them:

April 30, 2025 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Trichocereus Grandiflorus

Red Torch or Cherry Red flowers opening this week in the courtyard. These have never disappointed us for the last nine years or so since we purchased and brought home this cereus cactus from a local nursery. There will be more other than these two over the next few days and perhaps weeks, judging from the buds seen on other cacti in our xeriscape garden. Click on the image to enlarge.

More about Trichocereus Grandiflorus:

Trichocereus Grandiflorus “Torch Cactus” is similar to many other cacti – it requires little water and likes partial to full sun. The latter means that it’s best to be kept outdoors.Besides, with some newer hybrids growing up to 1-2 feet tall and 12 inches wide, the Torch Cactus may be a too bulky cactus for indoor keeping.The Torch Cactus is more cold-resistant than the typical cactus – it can survive in temperatures as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9.4 degrees Celsius). While it still won’t survive harsh winters, it can do pretty well in mildly cold areas if kept dry.

April 16, 2025 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Rainbow

We did get a little rain this evening (it’s 9:39PM now), but there was a small rainbow this afternoon when the sun shone through the cloud cover.

we’re having a gentle winter so far in January. Maybe a couple nights when the temperature got close to freezing, but no problems with anything that may be affected by the cold.

Image above: Rainbow to the east of us — Click on the image to enlarge.

January 16, 2025 by Arizona Climate Photography Retirement

Rosemary Flowers with Dewdrops

Here we are in the middle of November and the little Rosemary shrubs behind the RV drive (which goes around the house) are getting their little blue flowers. In this image (click to enlarge), the dew drops gather at the bottom of the petals to form little prisms/lenses.

The “dew drops” may actually be residual water droplets from the irrigation system that runs for ½ hour at 4AM to water the landscape flora.

We never have to shop for rosemary in the supermarket, since it is abundant and available year-round on our shrubs all around the rear of the house. Just look at the beautiful sprig in the photo. Image is from Bob’s Samsung S23 Phone Camera.

We’re still in “second spring” with day temperatures still in the high 70’s to low 80’s, but that will soon give way to our usual winter weather over the next few weeks.

November 19, 2024 by Arizona Climate Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Avalon 1998

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