Verna

Over the past few months, we noticed that our Red Bird shrubs in the courtyard were looking a little saggy and withered. This month, however, we started getting our seasonal monsoon rains — lo and behold — the shrubs have perked up and flowering like crazy.

The perking up clue led Bob to investigate the irrigation system. For some unknown reason, the station that led to the courtyard was set to “off” rather than a start time for the station to run. Hopefully, that has been corrected now.

Here is some interesting information about our red birds from Gemini:

Caesalpinia pulcherrima—most commonly known as Pride of Barbados, Red Bird of Paradise, Peacock Flower, or Dwarf Poinciana—is one of the most widely cultivated and visually striking flowering shrubs in warm-climate landscapes.

Geographic Origin & Etymology

• Origin: The exact origin of C. pulcherrima is obscured by centuries of human cultivation and trade, but it is broadly native to the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Most botanical evidence points to Central America, Mexico, or the West Indies as its native home.
• Cultural Significance: It is the national flower of Barbados (where it is featured on the Queen’s Personal Barbadian Flag and the national coat of arms).
• Etymology:
• The genus name Caesalpinia honors Andrea Cesalpino (1524–1603), an Italian botanist, physician to Pope Clement VIII, and early plant taxonomist.
• The species epithet pulcherrima is Latin for “most beautiful” (the superlative form of pulcher).

We certainly can agree with the “most beautiful” attribute. Click on the image to enlarge.

This is my “Tom Thumb” Cactus (parodia microsperma) which is currently sporting these four lovely flowers. We just learned the name for this cactus today from Grok. The cactus variety is a native to Argentina like some of our other non-domestic cacti. Click on the image to enlarge.

08/21/2026: A new flower opened today:

I bought this cactus at Basha’s a few weeks ago because it looked nice. It has been living on the patio since then and last week a flower bud appeared. It opened last night and produced this beautiful flower seen in the images above and below.

We weren’t sure about the cactus variety, so I uploaded the photo just above to Grok AI which said it is likely an Easter Lily Cactus.

From Grok:

It looks like an Echinopsis species, probably something like Echinopsis oxygona (Easter Lily Cactus) or a close hybrid/relative. These are popular houseplants or garden cacti known for their large, showy white (sometimes pink-tinged) flowers that often bloom at night or in the evening and last about a day.

Key matching features from the photo:

• The flower: Large, multi-petaled white bloom with a yellowish-green center and many slender petals radiating out.
• The stem/peduncle: Long, fuzzy/hairy green tube supporting the flower (a hallmark of many Echinopsis blooms).
• The body: Ribbed, globular-to-columnar green cactus with prominent areoles (the white spots where spines emerge).

Why this identification fits
Echinopsis (formerly often lumped with Trichocereus) are South American cacti common in nurseries and big-box stores like Bashas’ (a grocery chain in Arizona). They match the “night-blooming” or short-lived fragrant white flowers on woolly stems perfectly.

The flower was open this morning, and by late afternoon it had closed and the stem was slumped over. So, we will assume that this is indeed an Easter Lily Cactus. Click on either image to enlarge.

Once again it is fall in the desert and with it comes the beautiful flowers on our Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cactus. This trio, along with several others, was open today after a nice rainfall yesterday. Click on the image to enlarge.

Ferocactus latispinus is the binomial nomenclature for what is commonly called the Devil’s Tongue cactus. Wikipedia offers the following information about this cactus:

Ferocactus latispinus is a species of barrel cactus native to Mexico. It grows as a single globular light green cactus reaching the dimensions of 30 cm (12 in) in height and 40 cm (16 in) across, with 21 acute ribs. Its spines range from reddish to white in color and are flattened and reach 4 or 5 cm long. Flowering is in late autumn or early winter. The funnel-shaped flowers are purplish or yellowish and reach 4 cm long, and are followed by oval-shaped scaled fruit which reach 2.5 cm (1 in) long.