This is the native compass cactus up on the hill behind the house. It is hidden up there and requires a trip into the “outback,” our cholla and palo verde forest up there in order to catch a glimpse of it. I got this picture today with only one of several buds open. Click on the image to enlarge.
I planted some lily bulbs late this winter and now the flowers are beginning to open. Very pretty! Not bad for a little garden box sitting in the courtyard. Click on the image to enlarge.
Getting a new flower or two on a daily basis it seems. We expect our big saguaro to keep getting flowers until beyond June. Click on the image to enlarge.
The landscape crew replaced our old saguaro last August. Finally, now that we’re halfway through May, the flowers are starting to bloom on the transplanted cactus. I took this image from our driveway of the first flower to open. Notice there are pollinators already working on the flower. Click on the image to enlarge.
We were in the Northwest Phoenix Metro Valley today. A lot of the Red Bird of Paradise shrubs were in bloom. We stopped at a little shop that had these in their landscape plot, so I took several photos of flowers on my favorite desert shrub. Click on the image to enlarge.
The valley gets their flowers about a month before we do in Wickenburg due to the elevation and temperature difference, I guess. My three shrubs in the courtyard have already started their spring comeback with sprouts from two inches to a foot. They grow really fast, so it won’t be long before we have these flowers in our courtyard.
Here’s more of the spring crop of cactus flowers. These three were adjacent on a cactus paddle. I had to duck under a palo verde tree in bloom to get to the cactus underneath. Notice the center flower has a bee gathering nectar. Click on the image to enlarge.
Cleveland Sage (a.k.a salvia clevelandii) is a shrub that grows in our courtyard. This is the third year for the sage and their beautiful (and fragrant) flowers in our yard. Click on the image to enlarge.
From Wikipedia:
Salvia clevelandii (Cleveland sage, Blue sage, Jim sage and Fragrant sage) is a perennial plant that is native to Southern California and northern Baja California, growing below 3,000 ft elevation in California coastal sage and chaparral habitat. The plant was named in 1874 by Asa Gray, honoring plant collector Daniel Cleveland.