Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Home & Garden

Buckhorn Cholla Flower Season

Not exactly an Easter Lily, but . . .

This is one of the many flowers or flower buds on the various buckhorn cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa) cacti around the yard. Some are open like this one and some are still in the bud stage waiting for their turn.

I was finishing filling the bird feeders today and stopped to snap this shot with my Samsung S23. (I know, I have better cameras, but this one turned out OK, didn’t it?) Click on the image to enlarge.

We have been a little slow on getting blogs to post, and there is a good, but, undisclosed for now, reason. We’ll try to do better over the next several weeks as the disturbances are abating somewhat.

With the season of Easter upon us, may we wish you and yours a very Happy Easter!! HE IS RISEN!!

04 Apr 2026 by Arizona Environment Flowers Home & Garden Photography Religion 0

Our Oldest Store-Bought Cactus

This cactus, now in The Damsel’s Rock and Cactus Garden in Wickenburg, was originally procured from a garden shop in Torrance, our original abode prior to Arizona. We can’t recall the place where we purchased it, but it was likely at a Lowe’s or Home Depot garden shop.

Although the photo on the left has no flowers, many have come and gone and some can be seen here. It has been a prolific flower-bearer during its tenure with us.

Having developed our Arizona property, we have many cacti, some of which are natural to the area and were here (or their ancestors were) when we arrived. Our parcel is home to lots of native vegetation and some imported as well.

The only photo I could find of the cactus we bought in 2006 is one we took at night in June of 2008 when the cactus was still in a pot and had a couple of flower buds ready to open.

We loaded this cactus and several others including a golden barrel cactus aboard the trailer we used to transport yard stuff to the new house.

Click on any image (or link) to enlarge.

09 Mar 2026 by Arizona California Home & Garden

Rosemary Orchids

All of these tiny blue flowers that appear several times a year on our rosemary bushes attract bees and other pollinators. Today, they attracted me and my new Macro lens, to wit; an EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens. The image above is of one of our several rosemary bushes behind the retention wall north of the RV Drive. The image below is one of the tiny flowers up close using the new Macro lens.

I was not in optimum lighting for the above shot since the sun was getting low in the sky, but I managed to get a pretty good look up close at one of the flowers on the bush. Additionally, the wind was a factor and the image may have a slight blur due to motion of the subject. Nonetheless, I am pretty satisfied with the new lens and its close up performance. I am still learning to use the correct camera settings, and as time and experimentation go on, I’m sure that I can improve with it.

I can’t get over the little flowers resemblance to some orchids we see in other photos of flowers. Click on either image to view enlarged.

08 Jan 2026 by Arizona Home & Garden Notions Photography

Lemon Tree — Fruit and Flowers

For the many years we have had this tree, we thought it was a “Lisbon Lemon,” but now, we discover it is actually an Improved Meyer Lemon (Citrus × meyeri). We made the discovery when we uploaded some photos to AI asking why we were simultaneously having new blossoms and ripening fruit on the tree. It turns out that this is normal behavior for this species.

While most citrus trees follow a seasonal cycle, Meyer lemons are unique for their “everbearing” nature. It is very common to see fruit in various stages of maturity (green, yellow, and ripe) alongside fragrant white blossoms all on the same branch at the same time.

Here are some close-ups of the blossoms and fruit:

The last two photos were taken using a newly-acquired Canon EF-S 60mm 1/2.8 Macro lens. We bought the lens specifically for close-ups of our desert flora and fauna. These two photos turned out to our satisfaction and we are pleased with the new-to-us (very slightly used) lens.

As for the lemon tree, we anticipate harvesting the fruit within a month.

07 Jan 2026 by Home & Garden Photography

Mothers Day 2025

We have no children or other descendants living close by, so we will be celebrating Mothers Day quietly while remembering our departed Mothers in Heaven as we prepare a nice Sunday Feast of smoked London Broil steak. The meat is marinating as I write this and will be put in the smoker soon.

Damsel is a Mother and Grandmother as well. We will celebrate her with a card and a gift from myself and the puppies for whom she does a good job of “mothering.”

Our three grandchildren living in California are now all Mothers since the birth of the latest (5th) great-grandchild in early March of this year. We will be wishing the young Mothers a very happy Mothers Day.

Mothers day falls in the spring when flowers from the various cacti are popping up. The (clickable) image above is of a saguaro cactus flower taken earlier on Saturday (05/10/2025), complete with some pollinators doing their thing.

So, we wish God’s Blessing on all the mothers out there, past, present and future. Happy Mothers Day!

11 May 2025 by Culture Flowers Holidays Home & Garden Notions

Cardinal Camo Failure
  and Happy Easter Weekend

With all the newly-grown green and yellow colors on the big mesquite tree out back, this Cardinal shows up big-time against the cooler desert hues. Seriously, these Cardinals come to the bird feeders up there and are a delight to see when they grace our area with their brilliant red-orange feathers and black trim.

I took this photo this morning (Good Friday, April 18, 2025) with my Canon EOS Rebel SL3 with the EF55-250 telephoto lens set to 250mm. I think that I took five or six images as the bird moved from left to right across the tree branch; this one was the best of the group.

Now for the message for all, that Jesus died on that fateful day when the sins of mankind were lifted from us on the cross at Calvary. We will be celebrating the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord this weekend. Happy Easter. HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Happy Easter!

18 Apr 2025 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

“Cherry Red” Cactus Flower

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.

15 Apr 2025 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

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