While the saguaro was being installed yesterday, I snapped this close-up image of one of the red bird of paradise shrubs in the courtyard. Click on the image to enlarge.
Home & Garden
How Saguaro Happens – Part Last (We Hope)
Finally, we have a replacement for the saguaro cactus that fell over about a year ago. The landscaping crew arrived this morning to transplant a large saguaro from Aguila (about 25 miles west of here) to the place where the old cactus stood before it succumbed to root rot. The new one has a lot of arms and we’re looking forward to seeing lots of saguaro flowers next spring on the new cactus. Click on the image to enlarge.
A Late Cholla Flower
We went out on the patio this evening and I saw something yellow on the cholla across the RV drive to the west. I thought it was a cholla flower, but it’s really late in the flowering season for new buds. But, there it was.
I looked for flowers on the other cholla on the property and could not see any. I also looked for more buds on this cholla and, likewise, found none. This one flower is very pretty, though. Click on the image to enlarge.
Courtyard – One Year Progress
A few days ago, Verna posted a photo of the courtyard in bloom. I was looking through the archives from about a year ago and found a similar photo of the courtyard as it then appeared. I made a mini-slideshow using the two photos to compare then and now. Of particular note is the Cleveland sage growth in just a year. Click the image to alternate between the two.
More to Come
You can see many new flower pods on the red bird of paradise shrubs out in the courtyard. There will be many, many more to come as summer progresses. Anyone who reads this blog will know that these are my favorites. Click on the image to enlarge.
Cimmaron Sage Flowers
The Cimarron Sage shrubs along the driveway have many of these colorful sage blossoms after the rain last week. Click on the image to enlarge.
Delange has more:
Cimarron Dwarf Sage
Leucophyllum zygophyllum, Figwart Family: ( Scrophulariaceae ), Cimarron Dwarf Sage: Also called; Blue Ranger ‘Cimarron’ Sage, Blue Texas Ranger.
Leucophyllum langmaniae is an evergreen shrub and it is the smallest of the Leucophyllum`s. It has gray – green, cup-shaped leaves with masses of blue – purple flowers that bloom intermittently throughout the summer.
Height: Up To 3 feet tall and wide. But, we have seen plants almost six feet tall in the wild.
Flowers: Cup shaped lavender flowers.
Blooming Time: March to November. Bloom best after summer monsoon rains.
Leaves: Oblong to oblanceolate gray-green leaves up to 3 inches long.
Found: Native to the Chihuahuan Desert. Northern Mexico.
Elevation: 0 – 3,800 Feet.
Habitat: Sandy desert soils, hot, sunny areas, good drainage, to 3,800 feet’.
