Verna and Bob's Weblog

Arizona

Red Bird of Paradise
Flowers Now Opening

Now that the 2023 Red Bird of Paradise Flowers are opening, the butterflies seem to know that they are available for nectar browsing.

These flowers dominate the courtyard in the summertime. This is one of the first to appear this year.

The “Red Bird of Paradise” a.k.a. “Pride of Barbados” shrubs are ready to “take over” in the courtyard now. More about these from Desert Tropicals:

The Red Bird of Paradise is a relatively frost sensitive Caesalpinia, and it is generally better to trim it close to ground in winter. This keeps it more compact without seeming to delay it in spring. The canes tend to freeze in all but the warmest areas, and even if they don’t, the new growth in April is somewhat ungainly. For this reason many gardeners cut the bush to the ground at the end of November, and it will grow back green and compact in mid spring.

June 3, 2023 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden

Memorial Day 2023

We spent the early part of this Holiday in remembrance of those who were unable to return from the battles that kept America a Free and Sovereign Republic. We also recognize that all of our battles aren’t necessarily out and out warfare in the classical sense. We have troubles domestically with those wishing to disarm and enslave us. Prepare accordingly.

Now, we will post some of the beautiful flowers that are opening daily in this late spring season in and around our Arizona home. Photo credits are both Verna and Bob. Click on the images to enlarge.

Cherry Red Cactus Flower Cluster:

Cactus flower of unknown species – a gift from our sister, BB:

A Fish Hook Cactus Flower:

A Flower Trio of Argentine Giant Cactus:

We hope you enjoyed your Holiday and our flower photos. Come back soon.

May 29, 2023 by Arizona Flowers Holidays Military Photography

Photo Update — May 22, 2023

It’s been several weeks since we did a photo update. Here we are with Cabela and Tucker in the courtyard enjoying a nice spring day with the temperature up to about 97° which was the expected high.

For lunch, we enjoyed Cheeseburgers today with a cool adult beverage. We took a walk afterwards as well.

Image taken with my ancient Canon Powershot A710 IS using the delayed exposure timer. Click on the image to enlarge.

May 22, 2023 by Arizona Critters Family Photography

Watching the ISS Fly Over

One of our activities is, and has been for quite a while (since living in California) watching the International Space Station fly over when visible. Last Sunday night’s pass was quite a treat in that it had nearly everything going for it: cloudless skies, convenient timing and an almost direct overhead pass.

In the image above, you can see the ground track of the ISS as it passed over the Southwestern US. The maximum predicted elevation for this particular pass was 88° which barely missed our exact location to the southeast, but watching the fly-over, one could not perceive any difference from a direct overhead pass. Image credit Heavens Above.

Another attribute that is not always the case during a pass is that the ISS remained sunlit during the entire pass. We live in a slight hollow below surrounding terrain and saw the ISS rise in the southwest above some local hills and it few over us and set in the northeast behind some other terrain. We always enjoy watching the ISS and other satellites flying over, but this one was unusually spectacular.

May 16, 2023 by Aerospace Arizona Nerdliness Something Shiny

A New Cholla Cactus in 3D

Sometime last year, we noticed a small protrusion of what appeared to be new cactus growth under the red rocks that cover the ground around our house. Eventually, this winter, the cactus had evolved into a two-prong sprout with each prong measuring six to eight inches in length. As of the emergence of spring, the growth has really taken off virtually tripling the size of the little cactus.

I took a side-by-side image of the cactus and made it into the anaglyph seen above. Click on the image to enlarge.

If you don’t happen to have your 3D glasses handy, you may view the 2D image here.

May 10, 2023 by Arizona Bob's 3D Stuff Home & Garden Nerdliness Photography

Lenticular Clouds and a Flower

The Wickenburg and surrounding area forecast called for high winds (to 40 MPH) all day today. In the sky (clickable image above) we saw several areas like the one depicted having lenticular (altocumulus lenticularis) or lens-shaped clouds. Sometimes called “standing lenticulars,” the clouds appear stationary in the sky but the truth is they are in a very high winds condition usually downwind from mountain ridges. The clouds condense at the tops of the “mountain wave” where the airmass is rising and descending as it moves away from the ridge, I think they are very pretty to look at, but I wouldn’t care to be in an aircraft anywhere near them.

In other news, we had an Argentine Giant Cactus flower opening up on Palm Sunday evening. The photo below is that flower in the broad daylight of Monday afternoon. Click on either image to enlarge.

April 3, 2023 by Arizona Climate Home & Garden Photography

Avalon 1998

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