I found this cute little whimsical birdhouse shaped like an old western boot. It has some sort of electronic solar powered feature, but we didn’t know what that was until we peeked out the front door to see a little illuminated beacon shining on it. I guess that is so the birds can see at night in the birdhouse. Click on the image to enlarge.
I took this photo of an ocotillo flower cluster downtown yesterday just after we had lunch at our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant. This particular cluster was low enough on the ocotillo branches that I could get this nice close-up of it. Click on the image to enlarge.
We have an ocotillo at home that will soon have flowers like this. I will try and publish photos of that one when they are open.
Here are a few factoids about ocotillos from Wikipedia:
Fouquieria splendens (commonly known as ocotillo, but also referred to as coachwhip, candlewood, slimwood, desert coral, Jacob’s Staff, Jacob Cactus, and vine cactus) is a plant indigenous to the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Desert in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Ocotillo is not a true cactus. For much of the year, the plant appears to be an arrangement of large spiny dead sticks, although closer examination reveals that the stems are partly green. With rainfall the plant quickly becomes lush with small (less than 1 inch) ovate leaves, which may remain for weeks or even months.
Individual stems may reach a diameter of 2 inches at the base, and the plant may grow to a height of 30 feet. The plant branches very heavily at its base, but above that the branches are pole-like and only infrequently divide further, and specimens in cultivation may not exhibit any secondary branches. The leaf stalks harden into blunt spines, and new leaves sprout from the base of the spine.
The bright crimson flowers appear especially after rainfall in spring, summer, and occasionally fall. Flowers are clustered indeterminately at the tips of each mature stem. Individual flowers are mildly zygomorphic and are pollinated by hummingbirds and native carpenter bees.
Two of the Argentine Giant cactus flowers opened last evening. I took this picture of them in the morning sunlight earlier today. Click on the image to enlarge.
There ia another flower bud ready to open this evening. Here is some information about this variety of cactus from Wikipedia:
Echinopsis candicans is a species of cactus from northern Argentina. It has large fragrant white flowers that open at night.
The cactus has a shrubby growth habit, with individual stems up to 24 inches tall. The plant as a whole can be as much as 10 feet across. The stems are light green, with a diameter of up to 5.5 inches and have 9–11 low ribs. The large white areoles are spaced at 0.8–1.2 inches and produce brownish yellow spines, the central spines being up to 4 inches long, the radial spines only up to 1.6 inches. The fragrant white flowers are large, up to 7.5 inches across and 7.1–9.1 inches long.
I have lost count of how many flowers have opened on our little Bishop’s Cap barrel cactus. We have had this cactus for almost twenty years and it just keeps on making flowers all year long. This batch opened yesterday morning on the courtyard patio.
Our “old Faithful” cactus just keeps on going like the Ever Ready Bunny™. Click on the image to enlarge.
Only a day after I posted a photo of cholla buds, the first flower has opened on a cactus beside the driveway. Bob, who took this photo, had to venture through some of the desert brush and terrain to get close enough to take the picture. Click on the image to enlarge.
Buckhorn cholla seem inhospitable for humans and most reptiles, but the birds do not seem to have a problem with them. We have a curve billed thrasher nest in our cholla out in front of the house, and, down the road, we found a nest that we think belongs to a pair of mourning doves. We think that we saw motion inside that nest. We may be lucky enough to get photos of the hatchlings one of these times.
Stay tuned! Spring has just barely sprung!
Buckhorn Cholla cacti are growing in many places on the portion of our lot that is still natural desert. We were up on the hill today and I took this close-up of a cluster of flower buds on one of the plants.
In less than a month and continuing into summer, the various cholla will have yellow to orange flowers in bloom. We don’t exactly know why, but some of the cholla have flowers later in the spring season than others.
When the flowers do open, just look and don’t get your nose in close to smell them. You just might get one of those spikes in your face. Click on the image to enlarge.
