Three Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii) flowers opened today on the little cactus by the mailbox. These have been reliably opening on various of the native cacti around the property ever since we arrived at our retirement paradise nearly fifteen years ago. Click on the image above to view enlarged.
It’s not a big deal in the Arizona Desert to see Saguaro Cacti with flower buds in the springtime, but this is a first for our transplanted Saguaro in the front yard; the local cactus farm planted this cactus in our yard thirteen years ago when the cactus was only about four feet tall. Now, it is thirteen feet tall and currently sporting, for the first time, numerous buds which will bring forth the gorgeous Saguaro blossoms in a few weeks.
We had one other cactus planted at the same time across the driveway to the west that has had a few buds over the last couple of years, but nowhere as numerous as this cactus, as can be seen in the image above. We will update the website with photos of the flowers when they become available. Click on the image to enlarge.
This 10 second video is of a Curve-Billed Thrasher singing what sounds like a mating call. It’s not the usual loud “weee-weet-tweet” that we hear during other times of the year. Could it be that we’re getting an early spring about four weeks ahead of schedule? The forecast for our part of Arizona calls for 80° temperatures by the weekend.
AS you can see from the video, holding the camera steady at 250mm zoom is difficult without a bi- or tripod. I made this video today with my Canon EOS Rebel SL3 and the EF 55-250mm lens. I am still experimenting with and getting used to making videos with the Canon camera.
First up is a female Cardinal perched in the mesquite tree by the bird feeders:
Next is a pair of sparrows on one of the feeders:
Let us not forget the ever-present Gambel’s Quail that are often seen, but extremely camera shy. This Male was enjoying some of the bird block in the feeder area this morning.
And, finally, is a desert bird that I don’t recognize as a regular around these parts – bigger than a sparrow, but smaller than a thrasher:
Click on any image to open the viewer.
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.
July has always been a good month for desert cactus flowers opening. After only three days, this month gas been no disappointment. All the flowers shown below have opened on or since July first.
This first photo is of a peniocereusgreggii “Queen of the Night” flower, two of which opened up last night (July 2). They are short-lived like many cacti flowers and were mostly gone this morning. We were lucky to spot them last evening to get this photo.
These next beauties also opened overnight. They are “Cherry Red” (trichocereus) cactus flowers and look almost hot pink in the morning sun.
Our old reliable “Bishop’s Cap” cactus produces flowers many times during the year. We bought this cactus over 25 years ago in a three-inch plastic pot. These were open on the first of July.
The “Star Cactus” (Astrophytum) is also one of those that produce flowers several times a year. This flower also opened on July first.
Lastly, is our showy “Red Bird of Paradise” or “Pride of Barbados” shrub which will produce these brightly colored flowers from April through September. We have three shrubs in the courtyard.
That’s all for now. Click on any image above to view enlarged in a new window or tab.
