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.
The monsoons started last evening. I guess the rainfall prompted one flower on my protected* cereus cactus to open during the night. I was fortunate enough to get this photo before the flower wilted a couple of hours later. Click on the image to enlarge.
Happy Independence Day!
* Protected because I keep the pots surrounded with fine wire mesh to keep the desert critters from eating the flower buds before they have a chance to open.
I posted a picture of a single water lily last year when we were at this same koi pond inside the hospital courtyard. This time, I got a photo of these three water lilies and they weren’t the only ones in the pond.
I always think that water lilies seem out of place in the high Sonoran Desert, but they apparently do quite well here and in neighboring Yarnell up the road about 20 miles or so. Click on the image to enlarge.
Do you remember the photo I posted of the agave flower stalk last April? It’s a damn shame, but sometime in the last 24 hours, the top-heavy succulent toppled over and into our neighbor’s cactus garden.
We had been watching the progress of the agave since the flower stalk appeared. We drove down our road today to do some errands and saw that the agave had toppled. So sad – I was looking forward to getting some photos of the flowers that the little hummingbirds just love. I feel sorry for our neighbor who has to get the mess cleaned up and hauled. Fortunately, the fall did not destroy the section of split-rail fencing where it fell.
Click on the image to enlarge.