Last June, we had our landscaper install several shrubs and trees around the property. One of those is a flowering plum tree in the courtyard. Being a deciduous tree, it lost most of its leaves over the winter. Now that spring has sprung, the tree is showing several little (¾ inch) flowers and some new foliage. Click on the image to enlarge.
We have had our spa since last July. We enjoy it a lot, especially on the warmer days. If we get into the spa late in the afternoon, however, the sun going down on the west side of the house shines directly into the spa.
I asked the gentleman who installed the screen patio enclosure to come out and install a roll-down shade for us. He installed a couple more extruded aluminum supports (the same material used for the original patio) to hold the shade on the west end of the patio.
Image: Before and after – click to enlarge
I say temporary in the title since this shade is a cheap Chinese plastic shade that won’t last in the Arizona sun. We are already planning on getting a custom shade from one of the warehouse home improvement stores. We saw one we really liked at our friends’ house on the Colorado River. The supports installed today will be permanent.
These rather inhospitable looking spikes are on the stems of the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) planted in front of the house. Our ocotillo is currently dormant, but we’re hoping that the monsoons will bring it back to actively producing leaves and flowers.
Wikipedia says this about the Ocotillo:
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 (1-2 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.
The first four flowers on one of the hedgehog cacti have opened. There will be dozens of them this spring according to the number of buds I see on both cacti. This one is very pretty. Click on the image to enlarge.
None of our beavertail cacti are ready to show flowers just yet, but this more mature cactus belonging to a distant neighbor has pink flowers in abundance with more on the way. I can hardly wait for our beavertails to start early flowering.
P.S. My hedgehog cacti will be showing pink flowers very soon.
“Gold Strike” is the name the grower of these beautiful yellow roses gave to this variety. I bought a dozen of these and some baby’s breath to decorate the great room in our home. I also got more daffodils for the office and guest bathroom. There sure are a lot of yellow flowers in the house this week. 🙂 Click on the image to enlarge.
