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Ocotillo Flowers

Ocotillo FlowersThe first flowers are opening at last on our new ocotillo. The landscape guys replaced the old one last year when it died. The new one is finally getting flower buds, some of which are opening.

The ocotillos are sometimes completely without leaves or flowers. After the winter rainy season, the canes are covered with leaves and in the spring, the flower buds develop at the tips of the canes. We currently have two canes with flowers on the tips, one is a double where there are flowers on two branches near the tip.

If you click on the image to enlarge, you can see several flowers open with yellow stamens extended from within. The rest of the buds should open shortly.

April 27, 2015 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Throwback to June 2011

Throwback to June 2011

In the interest of providing a benchmark to what the house looked like a bit under four years ago, I’m posting this picture taken back then. Since this photo was taken, the house and grounds have taken a bit of abuse from the elements as well as some measures we have taken to correct the problems.

This image was taken from the neighbor’s driveway up the hill across the road looking north. The image features some things worth noting:

  • The old “Big Guy” saguaro cactus sits at the top of the driveway – it gets replaced after root rot took it down
  • The rosemary shrubs behind the house (on the hillside behind the garage on the right) are little more than the 1 gallon size of the shrubs originally planted
  • The creosotes along the road in front of the house have been well-trimmed but will get out-of-hand as the years go by and eventually be removed altogether
  • The yellow paloverde next to the driveway (below and to the right of the big saguaro) will flourish as we supervise the growth

When the time comes, I will post a similar image (after the work currently in progress) taken from the same vantage point as this photo and describe the differences that are in the works and will be shown later. Stay tuned!

April 26, 2015 by Arizona Home & Garden Photography

A New Flagpole

Eagle atop the StaffAs part of the construction and upgrades around the house, we asked for a flagpole. The flagpole was one of several items we had on our ‘wish list.’

Yesterday, the concrete crew poured a three-foot pad around a sleeve as a base for the staff. Today, the flagpole crew brought the new staff, complete with an eagle at the top.

I brought out the two flags we planned to fly and the guys installed the metallic hooks on the pulley rope. They had just recently painted the pole silver and since the paint was still drying, we had to postpone flying the flags for a couple of days.

So, on Friday or thereabouts, we will hoist Old Glory and the Arizona State Banner. Verna also wants to get some other flags to fly, like the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals team flags which she will hoist for special events as they arise.

April 22, 2015 by Arizona Home & Garden Something Shiny

Cholla Flower

Cholla Flower

As long as they keep coming, I’ll photograph and post our desert cactus flowers. This is a cholla flower I photographed a couple of days ago. Click on the image to enlarge.

Snippet from eNature.com:

Opuntia acanthocarpa – buckhorn cholla

The main trunk of this tree-like cactus is short and erect; branching open and low to ground. Branches are cylindrical; the joints light green.

Habit: native perennial shrub; succulent stems, in segments 4-20 in (10-50 cm) tall by 0.75-1.25 in (2-3 cm) diameter; new growth is gray-green to purple-green; old growth has rough, scaly, brownish black bark.

Flower: delicate, lemon yellow to copper to red to pink, 2-3 in (5-7.5 cm) wide.

April 21, 2015 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Chillin’ in the Courtyard

Dogs in the Courtyard

The Mama and the Daddy have let Cabela and me go out into the courtyard without leashes or being carried. This is good. I can lay down in the sunlight and be warm and relax. Cabela just runs around sniffing everything. Click on us to make us big.

The Daddy says that we still don’t have the back gate but he is trusting us to be good dogs and keep away from there. Daddy also says there will be a new gate soon and that we might be able to just run around the courtyard to our heart’s content. Cabela and I will like that.

April 19, 2015 by Arizona Critters Family Home & Garden

Prickly Pear Cactus Flowers Again

Prickly Pear Cactus FlowersIn the springtime when all the cacti bloom, there is a wonderful sequence that we have become accustomed to. First, the beavertail cactus blossoms appear, followed shortly by the hedgehog cacti. As those begin to fade away, they are replaced by cholla and then prickly pear flowers.

The photo at the right is of a cactus a few steps west of our yard along the roadway that leads to our neighbor’s house up the hill. This cactus is more mature than those in our yard which do not seem to be developing flower buds this spring, except for one lawyer’s tongue variety of prickly pear near the west side of the property close to the fence.

I will continue post photos of cactus flowers as long as they bloom in the spring, summer and fall. The giant saguaro flowers are going to open in a few weeks and we are really looking forward to that.

April 16, 2015 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Avalon 1998

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