The past week, cacti bloomed. The beauty is fleeting, because the flowers only last a day or two.
This beauty is next to our driveway. Leaving for a walk, my husband and I stopped to admire it. He said, “I feel so much pride in this cactus, which is funny, because I had nothing to do with it.” I felt the same way, proud of our blooming plant.
This was our cactus two days after the photo taken above.
I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. —Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright made his home in our desert. He appreciated the beauty surrounding us. I’ve visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert home and school called Taliesin West. I wrote about my visit HERE.
From Wikipedia:
Wright believed Scottsdale to be the perfect spot for such a building: a place of residence, a place of business and a place to learn. Wright described it like this, “Finally I learned of a site twenty-six miles from Phoenix, across the desert of the vast Paradise Valley. On up to a great mesa in the mountains. On the mesa just below McDowell Peak we stopped, turned, and looked around. The top of the world.”
More photos of cacti blooms from our neighborhood:
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
—Albert Einstein
I feel like a kid in a candy store. I see everything around me with fresh eyes although this is my fourth Spring here. I’m in awe and surprised by the prickly cacti producing such eye catching flowers.
If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.
—Laura Ingalls Wilder
What are your favorite sights this time of year?
These are simply amazing Elizabeth. Only if they are short lived, they bring you so much joy.
Thank you! They are so beautiful.
Yes they are lovely. I had no idea that cacti produced such beautiful flowers
I hadn’t either until we moved here. I think I’m looking out for them more. Or maybe this year there are more flowers because it was a rainy winter.
How lovely for you.
💕
I always enjoy seeing your very different environment EA! What a lovely reminder that nature has its own way of make us stop and think and find gifts if we just keep our eyes open.
Thank you! It’s so different than Snohomish. I love how you phrased that about nature and gifts.
I’m reminded everyday that I walk (not just today on Earth Day 🙂 ) that our earth offers so much…and also sadly that humans have a way to take advantage of so much rather than simply appreciating how small we are in the big picture.
I agree, we are very small. For example, I am in awe of many of our cacti that have lived multiple more years than we do. We have a short time on earth compared to saguaro!
These flowers are so beautiful, Elizabeth!
Thank you. They are still so unexpected to me!
I’m with you! While I’m not a huge fan of the desert, the flowers this time of year are just stunning! Beautiful pictures.
Thank you. Do you think the cacti are blooming more because of all the rain? Or, is this how it is most years?
In the 80s/90s/00s, it was mostly dirt and brush with a few saguaro, prickly pear, and barrel catci, so there wasn’t much color in the spring. There were very few palo verde, and no fancy cacti like the trichocereus ‘sun goddess’. However, as more plants have been imported in, the springs have always been vibrant and colorful, so it seems to happen with and without tons of rain, through the “superbloom” like we had last year is pretty rare, where fields of wildflowers bloom.
Thanks for the interesting info about my new environment. Last year the wildflowers were amazing. We see a lot this year, too. In my old hometown Palm Springs, it began as a place to recover health, especially tuberculosis because of the dry hot climate. Eventually, people moved from around the nation and world and all brought their native plants with them. Now it’s allergy central.
Same story in Phoenix! My grandparents retired here in the 60s for my grandpa’s asthma because it was the cleanest air… not anymore!
Isn’t that the truth! My son has asthma and he was worried to visit us because of air quality. But we’re far enough north that it’s good where we live.
Ohh….what photos! And the Einstein quote? A gem. Thanks, Elizabeth! 🥰
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! 💕
I sure did…those cacti are amazing! 🥰
Thanks!!!
Love the photos. So neat. Amazing that they don’t stay bloomed for longer.
I still can’t get over that cacti make such gorgeous blossoms. I’m glad I’m out walking every day to capture their beauty.
The cactus blooms are so beautiful! None of ours have flowered yet. Heck, even the daffodils refuse to offer up any. We just came back from camping in SE Utah. Loved the colorful rocks and brilliant blue sky. Got a rather nice list of bird sightings (and hearings) that pleased me a great deal.
I hadn’t been to Utah until my daughter went to U of Utah for college in 2018. I love it. We used to drive from Palm Springs through Vegas to get there. We are still going even though she’s no longer living there. Our last visit we drove from Arizona and got to see some of the gorgeous SE Utah, but next time we need to take more time there. I can’t wait to see your list of bird sightings if you post them and pictures from your trip!
I will have to disappoint you there. Though I probably should do a photo post of some of my favorite Utah pictures.
Please do 😊
So beautiful, Elizabeth! And the quotes perfectly accentuated it.
Does every cactus flower and if so, do they all bloom around the same time? So wonderful!
Thanks! Not all cacti bloom, but the ones that do are within a few weeks of eachother.
Ahh, thanks for the info! Beautiful!
It’s always a joy to see cactus in bloom on our morning walks. The one in our yard that I did before and after photos is completely bare. You’d never know it had flowers.
So beautiful! The desert has a beaury all of its own.
Frank Lloyd Wright was a brilliant architect. We have visited his Falling Waters home out here. Its over a waterfall.
This makes me want to go visit the gardens close to us and admire the flowers! Spring has sprung! 💕
What are your favorite sights this time of year? Like you I’m all about natural color this time of year. I can’t get enough of seeing flowers and bushes and trees morphing from gray and brown to Crayola crayon colors.
I am with you. There a tree that was gray sticks last week. Now it’s a bright light green that’s amazing!
You have your flowers blooming too! I love when cacti bloom. Long ago, I didn’t even know they bloomed. I happened to be in AZ in Spring and someone showed me. Wow, for such a prickly plant, to see such delicate bright colored flowers, it is amazing.
I didn’t know they bloomed when we moved here. It was December 2020 and when spring came around, I was so surprised.
Hi Elizabeth, all of these are so beautiful! We have a few in our yard too, and though the blooms are fleeting, they’re still enjoyable for the time we have them.
They are so pretty. We have two cacti in bloom now with bright pink crowns. They look like “Coachella crowns” that they were at the music festival.
🌵🌺