Saguaro Flowers

[ellarien]

Finally, I found some saguaro blooms within reach. The saguaro is the state flower of Arizona; each blossom opens at dusk and lasts only a day, so by lunchtime they're already a bit past their best. These are the signature cacti of the Sonoran desert, many-armed, twenty or thirty feet tall. The lopsided wreaths of flowers always look a bit incongruous to me, like a party hat on an elder statesman.