When Bob took Tucker out for his late walk this evening, we saw this asterism looking west; the five percent illuminated waxing crescent moon was just about to set in the west with the evening “star,” Venus, above and to the south. With the cloud texture and otherwise clear sky, it was a beautiful sight. Click on the image to enlarge.
The Cap’n and I happened to have an appointment in Surprise, AZ today. As usual on any trip in the truck (or any other vehicle – think RV), I brought my camera to document the trip. On the way home, I took the photo above of the desert with the mountains in the background. It’s nice to live in a place where you can see the naked desert just a few miles from home. Anyhow, this view is looking northeastward toward Castle Hot Springs, AZ, from the Morristown Overpass on US 60 near mile marker 120. Click on the image to enlarge.
Our Cherry Red (or sometimes Red Torch) flowers are starting to open in the courtyard. This is the first of the spring season. There are buds on several of the cacti and we’re expecting more soon. Click on the image to enlarge.
About Trichocereus Grandiflorus:
The Torch Cactus (Trichocereus grandiflorus) is a species of cactus from the Patagonian Desert in Argentina. The Torch Cactus is notable for its huge display of dramatic red colored flowers that open in late spring. When adult Torch Cactus flower they can often produce displays of flowers that cover the top of the plant and can look like a carpet of red flowers from above.
It seems unusual to have flowers from the Cherry Red (Trichocereus Grandiflorus) cactus this late in the year. Nonetheless, these two opened up today on one of the several Cherry Red cacti in the courtyard. I looked around for more flower buds but found none.
The late arrival of these flowers may be due to our unusually warm temperatures in September and part of October. Keep in mind, however, that the Sun and not man-made climate is the cause of weather fluctuations on planet Earth.
Click on the image to enlarge.
The weather outlook in our little patch of Arizona looks to be cooling off somewhat; that is, high temps of less than 100°F. In our experience, this indicates not autumn, but our “second spring” for the next few weeks. As you can see in the image above, cactus flowers are now appearing on our “Devil’s Tongue” (ferocactus latispinus).
My camera caught some other interesting things as seen below . . .
This is a Black Hawk which soared above our place yesterday. They look similar to turkey buzzards, but they lack the bright red head the buzzards are known to have.
And, as fall advances, the fruit on our lemon tree are beginning to ripen. We will be making Limoncello around year’s end.
Some of the most commonly seen birds in the area are doves. This Mourning Dove perched in the mesquite tree where we place bird feeders year around.
Click on any image to enlarge.
Because we were away from home through late March and over half of April, we thought that we might miss some of the spring cactus flowers opening. We already had flower buds on several of our xeriscape cacti when we began our trip to Texas. Fortunately, we didn’t miss too much since a lot of flowers are now open. We got busy with the cameras and have some photos of some of the open flowers here.
This first pair of flowers is on a beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris) that is growing on the west side of the property:
Next, we have one of the first flowers to open on one of three Blue Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida) trees on our property. The Blue Palo Verde trees were planted here since we have been in Arizona, but there are some wild Foothill Palo Verde (Parkinsonia microphylla) trees up in our back lot. Here is the one flower I saw today:
There are several Buckhorn Cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa) growing on the property. This flower is one of many more to come on the several cacti around here:
Desert Marigold wildflowers (Baileya multiradiata) are growing all around us. This batch is off of the property, just to the west of us in the catch basin:
And finally, The Hedgehog Cacti (Echinocereus Engelmannii) out front, have had most of their flowers open before we got home to see them, but there are a couple of buds still ready to open and this flower was open today:
We hope that you have enjoyed seeing these flowers as much as we have. We also are looking forward to enjoying the May and June flowers that likely will come. Watch for more cacti and other flowers soon.
Now that the 2023 Red Bird of Paradise Flowers are opening, the butterflies seem to know that they are available for nectar browsing. This little beauty visited this morning.
These flowers dominate the courtyard in the summertime. This is one of the first flowers 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.
Image information: Canon EOS Rebel J6i, Action Program, ISO 100, T=1/800 sec., A=F5, Lens EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. Click on either image to enlarge.