“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.
We originally bought this bishop’s cap cactus in a three-inch pot here in Arizona back in about 1998. It lived in California and did well there during the years before we retired and brought it back to Arizona. It seemed to like California since it grew into the six-inch pot seen in the image. However, now that it’s here in Arizona, it produces flowers all year long. I took this image today in our courtyard. Click on the image to enlarge.
Last spring, I rescued a leaf of Cow’s Tongue Cactus (Opuntia engelmannii var. linguiformis) from the wash behind McClure Park here in town. I planted it in native soil in a pot and within a few weeks it had grown two new leaves. As winter approached, it seemed to go dormant, producing no new growth. Just the other day, I saw that the long-dormant cactus has started to grow three new leaves (red arrows in photo).
As soon as the new leaves grow large enough to be covered with the spines that protect them from the rabbits and squirrels eating them, we will try and return this cactus to the ground along the west fence of the property. This variety of opuntia does very well in the Sonoran Desert providing they are protected from the critters. Click on the image to enlarge.
I paused to take this photo of one of my Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cacti this afternoon. This one had a lot of flowers and now has quite a few of the cactus fruit growing between the spines and spikes. In spite of the natural defense this cactus has, the little desert critters still manage to nibble away at the fruit. Click on the image to enlarge.
I put the pot with lithops succulents outside the patio where the morning sun can shine on them. All I can say is that they must like it there. These are the three latest flowers produced this early spring. Click on the image to enlarge.
We did our weekly grocery shopping today. The flower department had a sale on 6″ potted bulb plants including this miniature yellow daffodil. This is my first Arizona daffodil – we will see how it does here. For the time being, it is adorning the counter top in our guest bathroom. Click on the image to enlarge.
