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May. 4th, 2012 09:42 pm |
Ocotillo |
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Claret Cup |
Barrel cactus
May. 11th, 2010 11:41 pm
Most of the campus barrel cacti don't really start flowering until July or August, but there's this little one around the back of Heritage Hill that seems to put out a flower or two rather earlier.
Unexpected
Apr. 22nd, 2010 09:49 pmI really wasn't expecting to see this when I popped out for coffee and a bowl of chili at lunchtime. These usually bloom at night, and wither within a couple of hours of sunrise, but today was so cool and cloudy that this one bloom -- out of half a dozen or so on the large plant -- was still in good shape.
Suddenly, yesterday, the light was different. Summer light, rather than spring. Hot, clear, skin-stinging. The high temperature went from low seventies to mid-80s overnight. The air is heavy and sweet -- and full of pollen, which is making everyone as miserable as it's possible to be with so much beauty everywhere. The hedgehog cacti are blooming, half lost in the tangle of wildflowers, and I found one prickly pear in the cactus garden.
Finally ...
Apr. 6th, 2010 10:20 pm
The hedgehog cactus flowers are starting to open. (Actually, by my Flickr records, probably only about a week later than usual.)
Sunday morning cactus flower
Jul. 12th, 2009 08:45 am
One of my neighbors has a collection of potted cacti standing on the gravel outside their apartment. I don't know how allowed this is, but they've been there a while without apparent problems. One of them produced a flower this morning -- fragile, vivid pink. It had three at once a few weeks ago, but they were already a bit wilted by the time I got to them -- not as ephemeral as the white cereus, but not designed for the long haul.
Forecast temperature today in Tucson is 108F. I'm glad I'm off to Colorado for a bit!
Friday Flower Blogging
May. 22nd, 2009 08:00 pm |
Barrel Cactus flower UA campus, May 2009 (!) |
Around here, the barrel cactus flowers don't usually get started until July, so I was surprised to come across this one the other day.
Friday Flower Blogging
May. 15th, 2009 07:07 pm
Prickly pear, at the far end of the flowering season. The campus is emptying out, and there won't be much flowering for a while; the saguaros don't seem very enthusiastic about it this year.
(Oh, and it turns out last week's flower was desert willow after all; it comes in both light and dark purple colorways, while ironwood is a different tree with light purple flowers.)
Friday Flower Blogging
Mar. 27th, 2009 09:25 pmThe flowers that bloom in the Spring ...
Hedgehog cactus.
Hedgehog cactus.
Friday Flower Blogging
Mar. 20th, 2009 07:36 pm
That shocking-pink beavertail on the corner.
(My other beavertail, the one near the grocery store, seems to have disappeared sometime during the year. Also, I should have taken my camera when I went out to buy a lamp today; there was a magnificent yellow-and-red prickly pear in the parking lot there.)
Friday Flower Blogging
Oct. 24th, 2008 07:58 pmThey put out some new cacti in planters around the artificial-hill part of the Alumni Plaza, presumably in honor of Homecoming Weekend, and one of them had flowers. Tiny flowers, well under half an inch across ...
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Small cactus flower UA campus, October 2008 |
October cactus
Oct. 14th, 2008 08:11 pm
IMG_1213
Originally uploaded by ellarien.
I don't usually expect much in the way of cactus flowers at this time of year, but there's this thing down the street from my office, on the same corner as the big night-blooming one, that's had buds for a week or two, and today I noticed a couple of open flowers. (This sort of thing, slightly above head-height, is where the pivotable LCD display comes in handy!)
Friday flower blogging, running late
Aug. 8th, 2008 11:14 pm |
Barrel Cactus flowers UA campus, August 2008 |
Friday Flower Blogging
Aug. 1st, 2008 07:22 pm |
NIght-blooming cactus UA campus, July 2008, 6.37 am |
There are some compensations to being jet-lagged at this time of year; the couple of hours after dawn are the best part of the day, when the heat is still gentle, the shadows are long, and the night-blooming cactus flowers can be seen in their glory.
