We have had a true Monsoon week with thunder and lightning storms every few nights and an abundance of rain. Thanks to the rain, we have cactus blooming again in beautiful pinkish red.
Here are a few photos of the buds and blossoms:
Then of course there’s my bird buddy Red:
Red with a mouthful of millet.
Red found a new perch, a little table next to a covered chaise lounge.
This is a yellow Century Plant in full bloom in our yard.
From Planet Desert:
The yellow century plant (often known as the Variegated Century Plant or Agave americana ‘Marginata’ / ‘Variegata’) is a massive, drought-tolerant succulent . It features striking, blue-green foliage lined with bright yellow or cream margins and sharp marginal teeth. It thrives in arid environments like Scottsdale and needs minimal watering once established .
It was called a Century Plant because it was believed to bloom once every hundred years. What I learned is it blooms once in its lifetime once it’s a mature plant which happens around 15 to 30 years. Then it dies.
These two photos give you a perspective of what the plant and stalk look like. A neighbor pointed out my beautiful yellow blossoms next to our driveway. I hadn’t noticed the blooms because it’s tucked away behind a saguaro and other plants.
More from Planet Desert:
A century plant (Agave genus) typically dies within a few months after it finishes blooming. Because it is a “monocarpic” plant, it puts all of its remaining energy into creating a massive central flower stalk.
Once the seeds have developed and ripened, the entire plant withers and dries up.
While the mother plant dies, the lifecycle continues through offshoots, commonly known as “pups” or “hijos,” which grow at the base of the plant.
It is bittersweet that such a beautiful plant will be dying soon. I felt sad taking photos of it. My neighbor has one ready to bloom in her yard. As an artist, she said she’ll be take photos that she’ll use for a painting. Through our photographs and paintings, the Century Plant will live on.
What are your thoughts about Century Plants? Have you heard of monocarpic plants?
The bottlebrush bush that I posted Friday has many more blooms a few days later.
The bees sure enjoy bottlebrush blooms.
This is a vine growing up and over our front gate. I got an app to identify plants and discovered this is Pyracantha koidzumi, also called Formosan Firethorn.
Formosan Firethorn growing over our front gate.
This will be a beautiful flower soon, but will only last a day. I don’t remember the name of this cactus and the app gave me five choices that don’t fit. It looks like Hedgehog Cactus but the images on google have massive spikes.
Lantana. We had this plant in Palm Springs and it wanted to take over our backyard. I found out that Lantana is considered an invasive species in many places, including neighboring states. I may remove it.
Barrel cactus are blooming, too.
I’ve never seen this Yucca in our front yard bloom before. Amazing!
It has beautiful blossoms.
I’ve also never seen this tree in our courtyard have so many seed pods. My new app calls it Ebony Blackbead.
And finally look at this Silver Torch cactus is busting out all over!
I was given a Christmas Cactus by a friend four years ago. It looks pretty healthy, but until this past week, it’s never bloomed. Fellow blogger Busy Bee Suz who has a green thumb — which is something I lack — suggested that I move my Christmas Cactus. I moved it by the sliding glass door and a few weeks later it has two buds! How exciting is that?
While I switched from my 80-400 mm lens that I use to take Red and Mrs. photos to my 105mm Macro Lens, I took a few other photos. These were outside in the backyard.
We have three bougainvillea we planted a few months ago. They are thriving in the sun. In Palm Springs, we had bougainvillea that never took off. This is very encouraging!
Aren’t they beautiful?
Yesterday was my first day I managed to take a little walk post surgery. I was disappointed because my foot hurt in my tennis shoes. I had to wear flip flops with very little support. My foot is bruised and a little swollen so the tennis shoes rubbed my foot and were a no go!
It felt good to move around even though it was a short walk. My husband and I like to walk and talk. I shared a memory with him from my childhood. It was good to laugh together.
The Memory
When I was three and my brother was five, we went as a family to a church retreat camp staying in a tiny cabin in the woods of Washington. There were families from our Presbyterian church as well as ones from other parts of the state. Along with the small cabins, there was a meeting hall where we gathered as a group.
I remember sitting in the first row with my family, when the pastor asked if anyone wanted to share something with the group. My brother jumped up. He grabbed the microphone and belted out “Edelweiss” from the Sound of Music! I wonder what my parents thought? As his worshipping little sister, I was so proud.
“Blossom of snow May you bloom and grow Bloom and grow forever…”
These lyrics were stuck in my head after photographing the blossoms above. That’s probably why I remembered this blast from the past.
We have lots of these cacti in our yard. They are only about three feet tall, much smaller than saguaro — although they look similar. I think they are called Cardon Cacti and they are spikier than saguaro cacti.
Do you have any silly memories to share from your childhood?
What would you have thought as my parents when my brother sang Edelweiss?
I took these flower pics a few weeks ago, before breaking my ankle and surgery. I remember seeing the buds and blossoms before we were leaving for our trip to the White Mountains of Arizona. I told my husband, “I hate to leave. I’d like to see these buds bloom.” The cacti blossoms only last a day or two. If I only had a crystal ball and knew that I’d fall during that trip. Yes, I’d much rather be home looking at my blossoms.
Today is a perfect day to share the photos. I’m out of pain from my fall and surgery. The photos bring me joy and hopefully to you, too!
Now that the weekend is here, I have one more week until my post-op appointment and my soft cast comes off — hopefully. Then I’ll be in a the major giant boot, but will be able to walk around. In the meantime, I’ll continue in quiet solitude writing, reading, elevating and icing!
What a surprise to see this cactus in full bloom! I had to get photos in the morning light.
I was at a board meeting for the charity group that I volunteer for that raises funds for sex-trafficked victims. Unfortunately, the board decided to no longer fundraise for this worthy cause. The reason why? The subject matter is too tough. It upsets the sensibilities of many women. They don’t want to hear about it and deep down they are turned off by it.
Our new year for the group starts in September. I’ve been on the fence on whether or not I want to continue on the board. I brought this up a month ago to our current president who is stepping down from that demanding position and continuing with her role as treasurer (yes she was doing both!) She said, “Oh no! You have to be on the board.”
My job is communications which means internal communication with members as well as outreach to the community. It’s a lot of work. Yes, it’s satisfying, but lately feels like something I have to do rather than something I’m passionate about.
With my new interest in photography and the advanced workshop I was invited to join beginning in September, I’m leaning more towards not being on the board.
At the end of our board meeting the other night, I was put on the spot. The incoming president said, “I need to ask each of you a question. I need to know if you are continuing on the board.”
I really wanted to discuss my decision with the outgoing president before bringing it up in public. But here I was. I was honest. I think being put on the spot does that to me. I can’t come up with an excuse or a nice lie to get through the moment. I could see a few board members visibly upset with me. I explained about my new commitment to the photography workshop and not knowing how much time it will take. I told them I was still thinking it through and couldn’t commit to being on the board.
I drove home feeling guilty for not having this conversation with the outgoing president before a public announcement.
Have you been put on the spot? If so, how did you handle it?
Week one was a success. The morning strolls were perfect. I even got hubby to tag along. Waffles met Rascal, a poodle mix his size, who belongs to a neighbor. They’ve played together a few times in the park. Then Sunday morning, not only Rascal was at the park, but also a dog the same size named Ku’uipo, which means sweetheart in Hawaiian. Waffles had so much fun, he was grinning from ear to ear.
Waffles tilts his head when he wants to tell me something.
You know what else was a blessing this week? Waffles began to sleep through the night! Yay! Also, I saw my first baby quail of the year!
The week was so beautiful. I have to share a few photos I took in the neighborhood:
Palo Verde in bloom.
A Jumping Cholla with blooms. You want to keep your distance from this cactus!
Fairy Duster plant in our front yard.
A neighbor’s Aloe plant with beautiful yellow blossoms. We have Aloe, but none have flowers.
Now for a special treat for Waffles:
Waffles gets a treat, a carrot, but doesn’t know how to eat it.
