Spring has sprung in the desert! The high temperatures here over the past several days have been between 80 and 95 degrees and the cacti flowers have been popping open like crazy. This slideshow is a sample of the flowers that I have photographed over the past few days. You can pause the slideshow by rolling your mouse over the images and resume by rolling out.
Home & Garden
The New Cactus in Bloom
We planted a new cactus the other day, and last evening a flower opened up on it. To our surprise, this flower did not have the delicate fragrance of our California cereus cacti which are a different variety. Click on the image to enlarge.
UPDATE: the two buds seen in the image above opened the next evening:
Planting the New Cactus
A week ago we bought a cereus cactus and brought it home. Today, we finally got it in the ground in front of the house. We are really looking forward to seeing the flowers bloom. Click on the blue play button for a slideshow of getting it into the ground.
A New Cactus
This is the newest addition to the landscaping in front of the house. We will be planting this cactus within the next couple of days. We think it’s a cereus, but we’re not sure of the variety. I wanted to get it here right away since it will be getting three new flowers real soon now. Click on the image to enlarge.
Serrano Pepper
The first things to appear in the Arizona garden this year were the tomatoes. Today, I photographed a tiny Serrano chili pepper in front of a pepper blossom which will soon be another pepper. These tomatoes and peppers are likely to be ingredients in salsa or a Tex-Mex recipe this summer. Click on the image to enlarge.
Beavertail Cactus Flower
Last month, we transported several of our California cactus collection to Arizona. My beavertail cactus (opuntia basilaris – thanks Crotalus 😉 ) was among those we brought. Today, the first of several flower buds opened.
According to Desert Tropicals, beavertail is a smaller prickly pear cactus, and it will often start blooming when it has only two pads. In the wild, its principal range is limited to the Mojave-Colorado desert. The cactus ranges in the southwest USA (Arizona, California, Nevada) from 200 to 3000 feet elevation.
We will get this cactus transplanted into the rock and cactus garden next week. Meanwhile, enjoy the pretty flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
A Cactus Tree of Some Sort . . .
One of our neighbors offered to let us take a cutting from one of her succulents growing behind her house. The plant itself looks like it might be a variety of cholla (opuntia). It grows like a small tree with branches that dangle the little pods seen in the image.
We looked on the internet to see if we could figure out exactly what genus and species it is so we can evaluate its growth and flowering habits. I’m betting that our fellow desert dweller, Crotalus can help us figure this out. Click on the image to enlarge.