June 2012

Voodoo Roses

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This bunch of “Voodoo” roses, consisting of orange and yellow hues, is in the vase today after we finished our trip to the supermarket. I don’t know how they got the “Voodoo” name, but they sure are pretty with the baby’s breath accent flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.

More Eggs in the Thrasher Nest

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Much to our surprise, there are three new eggs in the nest where we watched the curve billed thrashers fledge two chicks this spring. I was out in the front of the house taking pictures when I peeked in the nest in our cholla cactus and saw the eggs. In the photo, note the white strands of dental floss; we recycle our floss in the outdoors just for the reason that birds will build nests using string, floss and anything else they can find.

I’m not sure if thrashers raise multiple sets of chicks in a year; the bird book and Wikipedia were silent on that issue. We will be watching to see if these hatch in the next couple of weeks and get more pictures of thrasher chicks if we can. Click on the image to enlarge.

White Epiphyllum “Cactus Orchid” Flower

white-epiphyllum.jpgThe timing for travel to the California house was just perfect for us to enjoy the blooming of the white epiphyllum flower in the planter on the side of the house. I went out of the gate near the flowerbed and took this image of the flower this afternoon. By tomorrow, the flower will have wilted and the plant it grows on will go dormant until about the same time next June.

Image: White epiphyllum flower. Click on the image to enlarge.

We went the Botanic Garden a couple of years ago to a showing of epiphyllum flowering plants and were astounded by the many, many varieties and hybrids. There are virtually all colors of the rainbow. There were hundreds of flowers at the show and all quite beautiful.

Golden Poppy

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This poppy was growing out of a crack in the patio sidewalk of the California house. No kidding! Just before we left here in April, Bob sprayed Roundup® all over the backyard to kill the weeds that grow out there. Somehow, the poppy seeds managed to find the cracks in the sidewalk where this pretty flower is growing today. There are several places where poppies are growing, literally, like weeds, out of the cracks. Click on the image to enlarge.