This is one of the flowers growing on the Crassula Falcata succulent adjacent to our front porch, Every year this interesting plant grows flower stalks that produce an array of tiny red flowers. When the little flowers open up, they have yellow stamens which give the flowers an orange appearance when seen from a distance.

According to Desert Tropicals, this plant does not tolerate direct sunlight in hot Phoenix summers, so we’ll try and grow one in a shady spot on the patio at the new Wickenburg house. Our back patio should be shady all day.

I wanted to post a picture of this flower today to see if Sig94 will tell me he’s got one of these growing out of his other leg. Click on the image to enlarge

We stopped at the garden shop for a few supplies today. While there, as usual, I took pictures of some of the pretty flowers on display. I took this picture of a sunlit cluster of plumerias. Click on the image to enlarge.

I originally had this lantana shrub in the plastic pot it was in when I bought it at the garden shop. Over last winter, I thought it died, but I planted it in a partial sun spot in the back flowerbed. To my surprise, it came back in the springtime and is almost two feet tall and wide today.

According to Floridata, lantana is a native to tropical regions and exists as dozens of strains and varieties. A lantana may look orange from a distance but when the flower head is examined at close range it consists of individual yellow and red flowers that blend when viewed from afar. You can see that detail in this photograph.

Click on the image to enlarge.

We used a coupon to get a discount on a dozen Vendela roses today. I arranged them in the vase where I already had some Asian ‘Stargazer’ Lilies. Click on the image to enlarge.

We have been waiting since May for this day. The permits and arrangements are in place and at last the builder is preparing the lot for the foundation. I posted about the groundbreaking on the other site, but I wanted to publish this photo that Damsel took of our contractor finishing the trench for the garage foundation. Click on the image to enlarge.

A Red Bird of Paradise (Pride of Barbados) blooms in front of an ocotillo and a palo verde. This nice landscape is in front of the vet where our dog is receiving day care today as we go about business in our new town. Click on the image to enlarge.

We passed several colorful “Red Bird of Paradise” bushes planted along I-10 near Yucaipa. There will be lots of these when we get to Wickenburg, Arizona today.

This is another of the photos I took in 2005 on our Alaskan adventure tour. We took the airline from LAX via Portland, OR to Anchorage. We boarded a dome car on the Alaskan Railroad and rode to Denali and then to Fairbanks the next day. This is along the Nenana River just out of Denali on the way to Fairbanks. Click on the image to enlarge.

I’m not sure about the name of these tiny orchids, but they come in purple, yellow, red and this shade of persimmon. I have had all four come out on our California patio this year. They grow from stems that extend out of the leaves and form clusters of several inch-wide flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.

Last year, I posted a photo of this echeveria succulent on the patio. Then, it had fewer of the colorful little flowers. I guess it likes it here. I probably got this at the local garden shop last year.

Desert Tropicals describes the echeveria genus:

Echeveria is a large genus of succulents in the Crassulaceae family. They are native from Mexico to northwestern South America. The genus Echeveria is named after the 18th century Spanish botanist Atanasio Echeverria Codoy. Several of these species are outstanding garden plants. A large number offsets heavily and are given the common name of ‘Hen and Chicks’.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Last week we drove from Wickenburg, AZ. to Lake Pleasant near Peoria, AZ. Driving along AZ SR 74, you can see a lot of beautiful scenery. I took this photo of the road and the cloud topped mountains beyond the saguaro-dotted landscape. Click on the image to enlarge.

While shopping at the garden center today, I decided to take a photo of flowers on a lantana bush. Just as I was getting set to shoot the photo, a sachem skipper butterfly landed on the flower. Click on the image to enlarge.