This weekend I was stunned by the beauty in our neighborhood. I stop and take photos every day on my walks. I’ve posted several times about the desert in bloom, but more and more flowers amaze me.
What are your favorite flowering plants and birds in the Spring?
We went away for the weekend to Puerto Penasco and came back home to warm weather and the desert busting out in bloom. What I’ve discovered is the blooms don’t last long. One day a cactus may have a gorgeous flower — the next day it’s gone.
I’m amazed at how many flowers are in blossom in the Sonoran Desert.
I have a little plant guide from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve called “Wildflowers” that categories native blossoms by color. I’m doing my best to use the book to identify the plants.
Here are blooms I saw during my morning walk:
What is blooming in your neighborhood?
There is a warmth in the air along with the delicious scent of jasmine. Looking around, I see signs that the cold winds of winter have left us. I see blooms and buds on my daily walks. Each day brings something new.
What signs are telling you Spring is in the air? Do you see more birds? Blooming plants?
The saga of the saguaro goes on.
Friday afternoon the doorbell rang. A man stood at the doorstep and said he was a building inspector with the City of Scottsdale.
“What?” I asked confused.
“I’m here to look at your saguaro,” he explained. “Is it the one out front?”
It turns out you have to get a permit from the city to remove or transplant saguaros. I led him to the backyard and pointed out the one with bacteria necrosis that we needed to remove before it spreads in the yard.
He took photos and said he’d approve the permit. He noticed the one on the ground and asked if we were removing it. I told him we wanted to keep it for the skeleton and the same thing for the one in the front yard that was dying.
Saturday the door bell rang and it was the Cactus Doctor. Not the Cactus Biologist who diagnosed our cacti, but the removal team. The Cactus Doctor said the dying saguaro in the front yard was already dead but he explained what we needed to do to “skeletonize” it.
He explained that saguaro may look majestic and strong but they are in fact fragile when it comes to disease and water. He said they like to be left alone with no shade and no watering — preferably on a hill or elevated space.
My husband wasn’t thrilled with the cost to remove the saguaro. He said it was an easy job he could have done himself. But I would have had to been the one tugging on the rope as the cactus fell. See the video below:
There is no way I wanted my husband out there with his chain saw and me at the end of the rope. The Cactus Doctor also disinfected the area and hauled off the infected saguaro. It was a lot of money to hire a biologist, get the permit and hire the Cactus Doctor to remove the saguaro, but I think it was better than doing it ourselves.
What’s your opinion on us hiring experts versus doing it ourselves? Did you ever think it would be so involved to remove a cactus?
The cactus doctor arrived Saturday evening to diagnose our fallen saguaro. He said it had been overwatered, got top heavy and crashed to the ground. Unfortunately, he said because of the trauma it suffered in the fall it wouldn’t survive being replanted.
Then he walked around our yard inspecting our other cacti. He drilled a hole in one saguaro and told us it had to be removed because it has bacterial necrosis. It’s leaning slightly and could crash into the house or damage the patio roof.
More bad news in the front yard. Our tallest saguaro with budding arms was declared dead. He said it died from vascular disease.
We learned that saguaros not only get water from their roots, but they have pores that open up in the day and absorb water from the air.
Another fact we learned was that a saguaro’s root system is twice the size of its height.
The doctor also told us how to spot native saguaro from ones that had been transplanted from other areas by the size of their bases.
Not the news we were hoping for. Now we need to hire someone to take out two saguaros and remove the fallen one. At least the rest are healthy. I’m thankful for all the healthy succulents and cacti in our yard and that the bacteria seems to be only in one saguaro.
What are you thankful for today?
A shocking thing happened. I sat down to work at my laptop in the casita when I watched a saguaro quiver, shake and crash to the ground.
My husband called a cactus doctor. We don’t know why this guy fell. Its root system literally broke in half. I’ve googled causes and it could be too cold of temperatures (it was below freezing and snowed in the last two weeks.) Another cause is overwatering. (We’ve had a lot of rain.)
The scarier thought is a bacteria. I read this from a website called Gardening Know How:
What is Bacterial Necrosis? Saguaro cactus can live for 200 years and grow up to 60 feet in height. These monstrous desert dwellers look imposing and impervious but can actually be brought down by a tiny bacteria. Saguaro cactus necrosis can invade the plant in a number of ways. It eventually creates necrotic pockets in the flesh which will spread. These necrotic areas are dead plant tissue and, if left unchecked, can eventually kill these regal plants. Treating bacterial necrosis in saguaro in the early stages can give the plant an 80 percent chance of survival.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/cacti-succulents/saguaro/bacterial-necrosis-of-saguaro.htm
How scary if we have this bacteria in our back yard and our giant saguaro are at risk? I’ll be very cautious walking around the yard regardless what caused its premature death. Can you imagine if a spiny saguaro that weighs a few thousand pounds fell on you? I had no idea I’d have to worry about our cacti’s health.
It feels like we lost a friend.
Have you had anything unexpected happen to you lately? How did you react?
Our 80 degree weather with sunshine vanished. We had one day and night of rain and cool temps — back into the 50s. Then yesterday was a cloudy cool day. But I enjoyed the beauty of the clouds and will share them with you. Most often our days are filled with bright blue skies.
I’ve decided cloudy days are beautiful and they add a nice contrast to our regular sunshine. I want it to warm up though so I can jump back into the pool and swim laps.
Do you like sunny or cloudy days more? Why? Do you think a sunny day makes you feel more hopeful or happier?
