We do not know the name of this cactus variety. It is in a pot in the courtyard in front of the house. When the flower first started to open this morning, it looked like a rosebud. When it fully opened this afternoon, it was clearly typical of cactus flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
I took this photo of a flower that was at a rest stop high in the mountains of Utah on our journey today on our way to see Capitol Reef National Park. We’re camped about ten miles from the park tonight and will see it tomorrow.
Our next stop will be in the Salt Lake City area of Utah. After that, we will head across Nevada going toward my sister’s place in California.
The flower buds that I posted last week have opened and gone. Meanwhile, this lone flower sits atop one of the saguaro arms today. It was there and then we had a little shower and it closed. Click on the image to enlarge.
To our delight, the big saguaro cactus out front has three new flower buds. We thought that the flower season might be over, but these three appeared. Two on the lower stalk and one on the upper stalk. A few of the withered older flowers on top of the saguaro fruit can be seen.
This image was taken from thirty feet away in the courtyard. Out of focus in the foreground is the arch over the courtyard gate and the top of one of the ocotillo canes to the right of the cactus. Click on the image to enlarge.
With a little poetic license, the alliterative title works for this Pride of Barbados (a.k.a. Red Bird of Paradise) flower as the sun strikes it from behind. The lighting at this time of the day (late afternoon) augments the yellow tones in these beautiful flowers. All three of the Caesalpinia pulcherrima shrubs in the courtyard are doing their summer thing constantly making these delightful flowers that we love so much. Click on the image to enlarge.
Two very pretty cactus flowers opened up here over the last couple of days; a Star Cactus (astrophytum) flower and a Fishhook (Mammillaria grahamii) flower. Both are shown above with the star on the left and the fishhook on the right. Click on the image to enlarge.
