A curious goldfinch perched on one of the racemes growing on the red bird of paradise shrubs in the courtyard. Sort of like a yellow bird on a red bird.
The finch was probably attracted to the feeder I have just outside of the courtyard wall, but was momentarily distracted by the flower bearing shoots. It perched on several before lighting on this one. Shortly after this photo was taken, the finch returned to the feeder.
The Arizona Queen of the Night Cactus on the east side of our house had two open flowers last night. If you catch them early enough the morning after, these flowers are still quite beautiful before they fade away in the sunlight.
Last evening was good for night-blooming cacti in the area; the flowers above (two of them) opened east of the house and the Argentine Giant had three flowers still open this morning. It’s a one-night-stand with both of these flower types. Click on the image to enlarge.
Two of my favorite cacti were in bloom today; the Star cactus flower on the left is the third flower that has opened this summer on my astrophytum ornatum. The flowers on the right are on my old reliable Bishop’s Cap cactus, astrophytum myriostigma. Both cacti are in the genus astrophytum of which there are five major species and a bucketload of variations.
The latter cactus above gets clusters of flowers on a monthly basis it seems, all spring summer and fall. The other flower is only the third one to open on that cactus, but there are more buds and I expect others to open as the summer progresses. Click on either image to enlarge.
Our local hospital has an enclosed garden and visiting area for patients, staff and visitors to enjoy. One of the features is a Koi pond in which there are water lilies. That’s not something you see everyday in Arizona.
I was at the Wickenburg Hospital today collecting a report from a recent test I had and took the walk out into the courtyard to take some photos of their Koi pond. Click on the image to enlarge.
Many of the cholla cacti around the area are in bloom for the second time this season. Some of them did this last year and many of them are at it again.
This cactus flower (click on the image to enlarge) is one of several that opened today on the cholla immediately outside of our courtyard. This is the same cactus where the Curve Billed Thrasher chicks were recently fledged from their nest here.
This is the Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cactus that we bought in California a long time ago. We had it in a pot out there and transplanted it into the rock and cactus garden shortly after bringing it to Arizona.
It had two flowers open today, which is nice, since the local desert critters think the flower buds are tasty and tend to eat them (see the bud between the two flowers) before they can open. The cactus has natural defenses with all the sharp spikes and rigid “tongues” that abound, but the critters get to the buds, somehow.
I have the same problem with the golden barrel that is planted nearby. We recently took the chicken wire fences away, since the cacti were getting pretty big. We will just have to deal with not having as many flowers, but, as you can see, some of them make it and are pollinated anyway.
