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.
Not exactly Australia, but out back of our RV drive on the upper part of our lot. We have lots of cholla and a couple of hedgehog cacti up in the back that we could never see unless we hike up there. Today, I went up to look at the flowers that opened up there and to get pictures of them to enjoy from down below.
On the left is one of the light pink flowers blooming on a hard-to-get-to hedgehog cactus embedded between two palo verde trees and partially obscured by some other brush. At the right is one of many open flowers on the cholla cacti up there. Click on either image to view full-sized.
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.
During a recent construction dig east of the house, a careless backhoe operator dumped a load of dirt on a hedgehog cactus down the road from us. Verna and I, after seeing this little disaster, decided to take the wheelbarrow and shovel to the site and dig out the damaged cactus.
All six of the lobes we dug out had cactus flower pods. We transplanted three of the lobes to the front rock garden and the other three were placed in pots pending finding a location for them.
Verna took this photo of one lobe in a pot with an open flower. Click on the image to enlarge. The three lobes in the front yard also have open flowers and we’re still waiting for the other two in pots to open.
Despite being buried in dirt, one of the lobes down the road had a flower pod above ground and it, too, had opened. These are hardy cacti, indeed.
Earlier in the week, Verna and I planted a small cactus in the rock and cactus garden. The cactus had been growing in a small pot on the patio and it was time to put it in the ground.
Not long after the cactus was out there, we noticed that something had been nibbling at the paddles. We suspected rabbits, squirrels and possibly jackrabbits.
I went out in the courtyard today to photograph a large sunspot. After I finished that, I wanted to take some pictures of whatever showed up. Sure enough, a large black tailed jackrabbit hopped into the area where the cactus was and took nibbles from it. I got this shot from the courtyard about fifteen yards from where the jack paused when it noticed me.
In the foreground of the photo, you may be able to see the victimized cactus, albeit a bit out of focus. Click on the image to enlarge.
