Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Damsel

Zinnia

Zinnia

Before we left Torrance this morning bound for Fresno, CA, we stopped at a convenience store to get ice for the cooler. Just outside the store, I noticed a small flower garden with Zinnias in several colors. I couldn’t resist pausing long enough to get a close-up of this orange beauty. Click on the image to enlarge.

We are spending the night here in Fresno on our way to Santa Rosa, CA, in order to be with our granddaughter on the occasion of her giving birth to our first great grandson. We will report further developments tomorrow when we arrive at the destination (a four hour plus drive from here).

11 Sep 2014 by California Flowers Photography Travel

Visit to Point Vicente

Point Vicente Lighthouse

After doing chores and some business at the old house in Torrance, we decided to get some fast food and take the short drive over the Palos Verdes hill to Point Vicente and have a late lunch. There is a nice park there overlooking the Catalina Channel with picnic tables, shade and a place for us and the dogs to walk.

Image: Point Vicente Lighthouse as seen from the park

The park wasn’t crowded and we enjoyed our lunch while a gentle pacific breeze kept things cool on a nice end of summer day in Southern California. It was very relaxing until our little boy dog got out of his harness and we had to chase him down. He finally slowed down and stopped running long enough for me to pick him up and get him back in the harness.

10 Sep 2014 by California Critters Photography

Plumeria

Plumeria

We visited my Mom today and brought lunch for us, my sisters, my aunt and Mom. It was a good visit, seeing family that we don’t get to see that often.

In Mom’s garden, there are several plumeria plants which have these beautiful five-petaled flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.

Wikipedia has this information about these lovely flowers:

Plumeria (common name Frangipani) is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It contains seven or eight species of mainly deciduous shrubs and small trees. They are native to Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Brazil but can be grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions.

09 Sep 2014 by California Flowers Photography

Monsoon Glory

Monsoon Glory

Crepuscular rays swept the sky this afternoon just an hour before we had a nice late afternoon monsoon pass over the area. This actually was the follow-up to monsoons that swept through Wickenburg early this morning – like at four in the morning with lots of rain, lightning and thunder. It was quite the wake-up call, although we did get to sleep again to wake at our regular time. Click on the image to enlarge.

04 Sep 2014 by Arizona Environment Photography

Butterfly and the Red Bird of Paradise

ButterflyAmong the main reasons I wanted the Red Bird of Paradise shrubs in the courtyard was to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. I am not disappointed since both species frequently browse the flowers of not only the red birds, but the sage flowers as well, when they are present. With second spring coming, the sages should also have more flowers to attract the critters.

In addition to the hummers and butterflies, this year we began noticing Sphinx Moths, also sometimes called “Hummingbird Moths” browsing both the red birds in the courtyard and the rosemary bushes out back. Interesting little critters, they are about 1/3 the size of hummers but act quite the same in that they hover and sample the nectar and move on to another flower.

I photographed this encounter with a very pretty black butterfly about to descend upon one of the clusters of flowers on the red bird closest to the middle of the courtyard. Click on the image to enlarge.

02 Sep 2014 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Devil’s Tongue Cactus Flowers

Devil’s Tongue Flowers

As Second Spring approaches the desert, my Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus latispinus) is flowering again. This is the barrel cactus that started out in my California cactus garden and was transplanted to Arizona a little over three years ago. Judging from the number of flower buds, I’d say the cactus likes it here in Wickenburg. Click on the image to enlarge.

From How Stuff Works:

Ferocactus latispinus (devil’s tongue cactus) gets its name from its long, broad, red-colored spines. Another with a flattened, red, central spine is Ferocactus recurvus (devil’s pincushion). These cacti are easy to grow and can get quite large eventually. They like bright light, heavy soil with excellent drainage, house temperatures and good air circulation.

In Mexico, the skin and spines are peeled off and the flesh is diced to be eaten raw or candied. They also provide an emergency source of water in the desert — you slice off the top of the plant, stir the pulp with a stick and drink the sap.

31 Aug 2014 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

A Solar Optics Rainbow Cloud

Rainbow Cloud

Earlier today, I saw this cloud in the sky to the south that was lit up like a rainbow from the glancing rays of sunlight. It was an amazing little puff of rainbow color floating high in the sky. I grabbed my camera and got this image. Click on the image to enlarge.

From EarthSky:

These colorful clouds are called iridescent clouds, and the phenomenon is called cloud iridescence or irisation. The term comes from Iris, the Greek personification of the rainbow. It’s similar to the colors you might see when oil lies on the surface of a puddle of water. When you see a cloud like this, you know there are especially tiny ice crystals or water droplets in the air. Larger ice crystals produce solar or lunar halos, but tiny ice crystals or water droplets cause light to be diffracted – spread out – creating this rainbow-like effect in the clouds.

25 Aug 2014 by Arizona Environment Photography

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