After these pretty flowers close up, the fruit of the prickly pear cactus will start to develop and eventually will provide nourishment and seeds for propagation. Click on the image to enlarge.
Arizona
The Peanut Cactus in Arizona
I posted about this peanut cactus last month and said that we would bring it to the new place in Arizona. As you can see, it likes it here; it has five open flowers with more to come! Click on the image to enlarge.
More to Come
Now that this giant saguaro is in place, we are going to decorate our landscape with shrubs and flowering cacti that will complete our visualization of the way this dream house should look. Below the giant cactus, we will have some shrubs planted in the strip along the driveway down to the road. In addition, there will be some flowering shrubs to the left of the saguaro. This is, in effect, the ‘before’ picture. Click on the image to enlarge.
Gilded Flicker Arrives at the Seed Feeder
A few days ago, I posted a picture of a gilded flicker at the seed bell out back. Over the weekend, I captured a gilded flicker arriving at the seed feeder as a house finch makes a hasty departure. You can see the yellow plumage in this picture that gives this bird the ‘gilded’ description. Click on the image to enlarge.
Admiring the Saguaro from the Courtyard
Verna was walking the dogs on the road this afternoon while I was standing in the courtyard watching her and the dogs as well as admiring our (new to us but really old) saguaro cactus. Saguaros generally don’t start sprouting “arms” until they are as much as seventy-five years old or more and this one has five arms with arm buds for seven or eight new arms.
We were quite lucky to get this cactus at the price we paid. It augments the southwestern “flavor” we were looking for in our Arizona home. Click on the image (that Verna took from the road) to enlarge.
Red Birds at the Feeder
We just sat on the back porch today, called our Moms to wish ’em Happy Mothers Day. I heard from my kid, wishing me the same. I must have taken upwards of 400 pictures of the birds and critters out back. There were so many, it was hard to decide which one to post today. At any rate, I hope that Mom enjoys these red birds, a house finch and a cardinal, at our feeder. Image taken this afternoon – click on the image to enlarge.
