I couldn’t find any of my favorite flowers this week when we went shopping, so I settled for a bouquet of assorted flowers composed by the flower concession in the supermarket today. There were a couple of Gerbera daisies, some other miscellaneous flowers and this conglomeration of tiny pink daisies, along with some greens to complete the bouquet.
Normally, I like to compose my own flower arrangements, but the selection of flowers today precluded that option. Click on the image to enlarge.
The last time I had one of these open, I completely missed the opportunity to photograph it. By the time I noticed the flower stalk, the bloom had come and gone. They only last up to late morning after opening during the night. I was lucky to get this shot between the rain showers this morning. Click on the image to enlarge.
It seems that after each rainfall, our Cimarron Sagebrush bushes explode with these beautiful little bluish-purple flowers. We were working out in the front yard today and I photographed a few of the abundant little blossoms on one of the bushes along the driveway.
The fragrance of the bushes does not depend on having flowers, it seems. Just touching the little cupped leaves of the plant leaves your fingers smelling like sage. Delightful! Click on the image to enlarge.
I bought a living miniature orange hibiscus potted plant at the flower shop in the supermarket the other day. That day, their cut flowers looked wimpy, so I bought the hibiscus. I thought that when the flowers start to open on this plant, they would be very pretty and I was right. These started opening yesterday and after the light got better (we had monsoon rain this morning) I went out on the patio and took this photo. Click on the image to enlarge.
When we went shopping yesterday, I picked out two bunches of mini carnations and a spray of baby’s breath for accent. I like the two shades of pink against the green and white of the stems and little flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
I have never seen this many open flowers on our Bishop’s Cap cactus. My first thought was that the array of flowers resembled a bridal bouquet.
I think that this cactus is very happy in the courtyard of our Arizona home. Originally, we bought it in Arizona before we were married in the late 1990’s. It was in California for most of that time until we brought it here in 2011. Now, it produces flowers (lots of ’em) all summer long, many more than ever seen in California. Click on the image to enlarge.
I bought some more sunflower stems at the flower concession in the supermarket today. I have had several of these over the past couple of weeks as they seem to be in season now. They tend to last in the vase for a few days and then fade away. This one was very pretty in this face-on view. Click on the image to enlarge.
I looked up sunflower season on eHow:
The common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a warm-weather, summer-blooming annual characterized by large, showy flower heads, a stiff green stalk and broad green leaves. Flowers typically appear from May to October, or until the first frosts of autumn arrive. You may propagate sunflowers outdoors in the garden as soon as frosts have finished for the year. Sunflower seeds are mature and ready to harvest about four months after planting.