I am always intrigued by the delicate inner parts of the cactus flowers. This is an extreme close-up photo of a flower that opened up on my Astrophytum (Star Cactus) yesterday and was open again today. Unlike the Bishop Cap flowers that are only open for a single day, this cactus offers a second look the flower on the next day.
I also took a photo of the whole cactus flower. Click on the link to the left or on the image above for full-sized views.
I posted about this cactus two months ago when it had three flowers. I did not post last month when it had several more flowers. Today, there are five of them open. This cactus has been with us since the late 1990’s and has been faithful about having flowers ever since its first year of blooms.
I will have photos of our other Astrophytum cactus in a day or so when its flowers open. I just love spring, summer and second spring cactus flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
The Astrophytum Ornatum cactus by the back patio offered another beautiful flower today. They come and go so quickly that I was lucky to get this shot when the flower was completely open. In the morning, it was still just a bud, but by early afternoon it had closed up again. It may open again tomorrow, but we will probably be on the road to see our newest grandson.
We were lucky enough to have watched these Arizona Queen of the Night flowers steadily growing on the host cactus since a few weeks ago. Tonight, I walked out to see if the buds were open yet, but they weren’t. They definitely looked as if they would open, so later, I ventured out again, well after dark, and saw them fully open. Click on the image to enlarge.
This flower opened on our big saguaro cactus out front this morning. Most of the flowers had come and gone in June, but last week we noticed a new flower bud. When I say last of the summer, I mean for this cactus, as there are others in town that will likely have more flowers to come. Maybe even this one will have more, but I doubt it.
Since the cactus is very tall, in order to see inside the flower, I had to take this shot from across the driveway with the telephoto lens. Canon SL1 settings: F8.0, ISO 100, Shutter 1/500 sec., Focal Length 300mm.
I took this photo from the courtyard looking east toward the Hieroglyph and Wickenburg mountains. There were still a lot of thunderclouds built up in the distance which I thought would be nice to frame behind our ocotillo and saguaro out front. Click on the image to enlarge.
The weather looks to still be likely thunderstorms in the area tonight and perhaps tomorrow, but the rest of the week looks like it should be sunny and warm (100°). I, personally, am hoping for lower humidity since the monsoons have the desert feeling more like a sauna bath or an old Navajo sweat lodge.
I was sitting in the great room when I noticed a black spotted butterfly browsing on one of the red bird of paradise shrubs in the courtyard. I grabbed my camera and went out front hoping to get a shot of the butterfly and flower.
When I got outside, the butterfly flew away at first. After a few seconds, it circled back to the same shrub it had been browsing and resumed. I took several shots of it while it did its thing, this one being among the best photos I got. Click on the image to enlarge.
