Arizona

Lawyer’s Tongue Pollinator

Lawyer’s Tongue Pollinator

I took some photos of a lot of open flowers on and around our lot on Friday. This photo is of a couple of freshly opened flowers on the lawyer’s tongue (sometimes called cow’s tongue) prickly pear cactus at the west edge of the yard. One entrepreneurial bee, seen on the flower on the right, worked the pollen express to the best of its ability as I snapped away with my camera.

Next week, most of these flowers will have come and gone, leaving the pears behind to likely be pecked at by our bird population. Spring is a wonderful time here in the Sonoran Desert. Click on the image to enlarge.

Saguaro Flower Buds

Saguaro Flower Buds

While we were out doing yard work today, I noticed that our big saguaro cactus has several flower buds popping up on three of the cactus arms. That means before long, we will be having saguaro flowers on the big guy.

On our recent outing in the RV, we saw a lot of saguaro flowers in the wild and some on domesticated cacti like ours. We should get them all spring and summer, we’re hoping. Stay tuned and I will get flower pix of ours as soon as I can.

Prickly Pear Cactus Flower

Prickly Pear Cactus Flower

Most of the Prickly Pear cacti in the neighborhood are in bloom. This cactus is along the road where we take our after dinner walk with the dogs. It had several flowers open already this season and this is one of two that were open this afternoon. Click on the image to enlarge.

Hot Pink Cactus Flowers

Pink

More Pink     Hot Pink

The cactus buds that I posted about last week are fully open today and they are a very hot pink, indeed. The photos at the top and above left were taken just after noon while the last panel was taken this evening as the flowers have begun to close. We know that cactus flowers don’t last long, so we enjoy them while they’re here. Click on any the images to enlarge to full size.

Lawyer’s Tongue Cactus Flower

Lawyer’s Tongue Cactus Flower

Better get used to seeing beautiful cactus flowers, because it is the season for it. This is a flower that opened today o the Lawyer’s Tongue Cactus on the west side of our yard along the fence. We planted this cactus from a fallen pad we found in a park in town, and it has done extremely well since it was in a pot in the patio to (now) on the west side in the ground.

I counted over fifty flower buds on this cactus – there were only nine last year – and I expect to have most of them open and to get them imaged in the camera. Click on the image to enlarge.

Joys of Dog Ownership

Joys of Dog Ownership

When I say “Dog Ownership,” I actually mean the DOGS OWN US. Verna took this photo of me coming down Gloria’s Driveway today holding a bag of the puppies everyday contribution to the perpetuation of the ecology of the planet. These bags go to the landfills and eventually decay so that the nitrogen cycle of the contents can be released, thus completing the aforementioned contribution.

We had rain today, badly needed in the desert and there is more forecast for the week to come – April Showers/ May flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.