Final bits

I adore this agave - I wish I knew what kind it was, as our large agave in the back yard is sprouting a huge stalk, which generally means it will be dying off soon. I adore this one for its contrasting edge on the foliage - it reminds me of a deckled tear on heavy paper.

I have no idea what these are, but they are tiny, and they make me happy.

These are a non-native cactus species - but the blooms remind me of sea anemones.

This is another look at a different type of agave -I adore the frosty leaves with spine impressions. That does it for the current round of macro photos...tho I have to admit to picking up a Lightscoop recently...and I've been chasing the cats around ever since...you know, to test it out! Photos of actual knitting, coming soon ;)

Macro-Mania continues...

I'm not sure what kind of plant this is with these neat white flowers - I didn't even realize the main stalk was a highway for aphids or some other mite until I was editing the photos!

These are a pair of Julia butterflies perched happily on some sort of sunflower.

Blanket flower - I love how the petals have a flame-like gradation

And lastly some pink owl clover puffballs.

Ode To Spring

continues over the next couple posts :) I hope you're not tired of the flowers yet!

Penstemon - I've always loved these flowers for their orchid-like shapes. This group looks like it's somehow singing :)

Globe mallow come in a variety of colors - though I haven't seen this golden hue in the wild before.

Nor have I ever seen golden hued lilies. The butterflies really liked these - but apparently their proboscis aren't long enough, since every time I caught a butterfly on one of these lovely flowers, it was busy trying to crawl deep inside, presumably to reach the nectar.

Also one of my favorites - Lupine

Spring

is here, and that means wildflowers! Here are some favorite shots I captured while playing with the macro lens. First up, a bloom from a hedgehog cactus - spring is short here in the desert southwest, and this photo actually reminds me of the blazing heat of summer that is on the way.

This is a fairy duster - in some ways it reminds me of the crazy crown of feathers on some birds :)

Claret cup Cactuses are also in bloom.

Pink Globe Mallow - with a bee :) I'm happy to see the bees out and about doing their thing. I worry over the bees what with not yet understood phenomena of Colony Collapse Disorder.

Spiketastic

Not only are the wildflowers making an appearance, it seems the cactus blooms are well on their way also. These are Strawberry (or Engelmann's) Hedgehog cactus - they are are quite common in the desert area that I live, and are amongst the first cactus to begin blooming in the spring.

I love them for their bright splashes of color - I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the desert blooms come to life over the next month or so!

Mother Nature knows Best

fiddleneck & lupine

or she sure seems to have a good sense of color! The wildflowers are out (and will probably be providing lots of blog fodder for the next month or so....) For some reason (in the desert anyhow), the hillsides seem to get covered with a combination of blue/purple and yellow flowers. These are generally complementary in hue, and as a result I think they photograph wonderfully together.

poppies, lupine and fiddlenecks cover a local hillside

lone poppy over a field of desert bluebells

The flowers that I'm happiest to see out are the poppies....well, the poppies and the lupine - together they just make me smile. Happy Spring, everyone :D

Spring Sprung

With the rather wet winter we've had here, the wildflowers are making a good showing this year :) these happen to be popping up in the neighbor's yard. I have to admit that while weeding, if it looks like a lovely wildflower, I leave it alone, figuring it'll die off soon enough and I'd like to enjoy the evidence of our short spring while I can!

Unfortunately....

...most things in the desert *do* have spines. But they still make for some pretty fascinating subject matter. I adore the colors of this agave - frosty green with the pinky purple spines. Maybe I should get out the dyepots again....because there is something simply soothing about that color pairing.

Also: A sonoran desert favorite - the accordion pleats of a saguaro cactus. I'm guessing with the recent rains the pleats aren't quite so deep anymore :)

Not Everything...

...in the desert has spines.

Before spotting this lichen, I had no idea it could appear in blue. Most lichens I have ever spotted have been green, or yellow, or brown...but never before have I seen blue. Of course we had to snap a photo :)

Surprisingly, to me anyhow (when I first arrived out here), there are a number of grasses in the desert as well. They tend to sprout up quickly, covering the landscape in green, but then quickly mature and dry - unfortunately providing lots of fuel for wildfire season. I still find them pretty though, even in their dried/dormant state.

In case you're wondering whats up with the macro photos, we got a new lens over the holidays and are busy trying it out :D There are only so many photos of the cats I can post (or that they will tolerate me taking), and I thought you might find these a nice change of pace.

Fuzzy and Prickly?

Well, maybe not. Behold, the Teddy Bear Cholla - so named because from afar, it looks fuzzy...but in reality, it's densly packed with long sharp spines! Should you have the misfortune to ever get a segment stuck on you, take care in removal, so-as to not further get yourself stuck! I normally wear trail runners while hiking, though if I know I'll be a cholla-dense region, I'll usually opt for more rugged footwear, just in case I am not paying attention and wind up stepping on or kicking one of the fallen segments.

This healthy specimen was found in the Superstition Wilderness, on one of the First Water loops. I'm looking forward to further hiking before the weather seriously warms up - due to the rain, I'm guessing we'll be having one heck of a wildflower season!

Distractions...

...not much knitting going on...I've been kept entertained at work.  While it seems wildflower season didn't do much here (that I managed to capture anyhow), the yucca around campus are in bloom.   These delicate flowers are found on some rather gigantic yucca (some of the foliage is as tall as I am, it seems!) and are only open in the morning when I go into work.  By the time I wrap things up to head home, all the buds on the stalk are closed tight!  Hopefully they leave the stalks intact so I can see what the fruit looks like later this year.

Spring is Here!

Happy First day of Spring :D
We've been inundated with the wild flowers down here, and even have a small patch of wildflowers growing in our yard - sadly I didn't manage to get a photo of the goldpoppy before it past its prime :( The flowers above are Desert Globemallow - haven't seen any in bloom near my home, but I'm sure they are coming into season if they aren't already there. I'm determined to try to enjoy the spring while it passes by quickly - it won't be long before the triple-digits are here!

Hoping for a Bumper Crop!

Perfect for Project Spectrum - The prickly pears in my backyard have exploded into bloom.

From their immature pink buds with fuchsia and golden tipped spines (the ones photographed were from the wild, and not my backyard), to the lovely green of the pads to the lovely golden flowers - all the colors of the April-May Triad are present!

With all my prickly pears bursting with buds or flowers, I'm hoping for a bumper crop of fruit this summer. Unfortunately my prickly pears aren't terribly diverse genetically - I have a couple purple prickly pears and a bunch of Engelmann's Prickly pears - unfortunately, all the Engelmann's are from the same parent, so I'm not sure if I'll be getting fruit or not...


The blooms on the purple prickly pear seem to be more clear and purely yellow...

While those of the Engelmann's Prickly Pear seem to have a faint orange blush to them.

If you've never had an opportunity to taste prickly pear fruit, it's quite tasty (once you get past the spines ;) ) and it has a stunning vibrant fuchsia color. I was lucky enough to have received a jar of prickly pear jam last year from a friend - and since then, I've been tempted to see if I might be able to cook my own, but I've never been lucky enough to have a big enough "crop" of fruit - perhaps I'll be luckier this year!