Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Flowers

The Saguaro Cactus were blooming everywhere as we drove around the desert in southern Arizona.

Many flowers were also blooming in the wooded areas of the mountains
and along the few running streams. The wetlands where we birded
frequently contained effluent from cities or runoff from irrigated fields.
Very few actual live streams have much water this very dry year.


This is known as cowboy's fried egg -- formally, Matilija poppy.


Other types of cactus also had vividly colored blossoms,
despite the terrible drought throughout the region.

On the wall of one of the highly decorated Mexican restaurants was this face with flowers.






Back in Michigan — 

And in our completely different environment at home, we have a beautiful
rhododendron in bloom, which greeted us when we arrived.

 Blog post and photos © 2021 mae sander.

10 comments:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I always loved driving through the desert in spring on my way to CA. The desert is awash with beauty and color, which quickly dies in a few weeks. Thanks for sharing all these incredible beauties, including your gorgeous rhododendrons.

Tandy | Lavender and Lime (http://tandysinclair.com) said...

The cacti flowers are amazing. What a pity there is effluence in the wetlands.

Iris Flavia said...


Cowboy´s fried egg? Why?
The mural is stunning.
As all the flowers nature produces. Thank you, this was wonderful.

Lisca said...

The desert is so beautiful. I fell in love with Arizona when I was there many years ago. We have since moved to an area which is similar because of that.
So I recognize most plants and flowers because we have them too. We don't have the saguaros of course. They are typical of the Sonora desert. Your first picture is a bird-of-paradise-tree. Very spectacular.
Thank you for offering to send me a postcard. I would love that. I don't know quite how to get in touch with you as I can't find your email address. But mine is liscameijer at rocketmail dot com. Please get in touch.
Hugs,
Lisca

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

The juxtaposition of thorns with delicate flowers---it's striking.

Anne in the kitchen said...

You were in the desert at the perfect time. How gorgeous all the photos of flowering cacti are!

Jeanie said...

Glorious blooms. Those cactus flowers are especially striking and the mural is fabulous!

My name is Erika. said...

Looks like you had a wonderful trip Mae. Your photos are great.

DVArtist said...

Love these photos. I miss AZ so much.

rhapsodyinbooks said...

The cactus blossoms are indeed lovely in AZ but they herald the onset of intense heat. I'll take rhodys anyday! :--)