Cactus bloom – Love Cave Creek AZ

April 13, 2014April 13, 2014

Healing With The Night Blooming Cereus

What a treat to make a remedy from the Night Blooming Cereus that graced us with beauty and gifted us with its essence this past Wednesday in Cave Creek. It was another confirmation that nature is approving of the Lotus Pinwheel energy that is taking shape (more to come on this). My friend and homeopathic colleague Debbie Noah and I sat in awe and without hesitation came to the conclusion that this year’s message from the night bloomer was happiness and celebration.

Enjoy the photos of the Argentine Giant (Tricocereus Candicans) blooms that with a little help of some hardware mesh survived the appetite of the javelinas this year.

The blooms survive the javelinas surrounded by the hardware mesh

The blooms start sending out a subtle fragrance

Until we sit in vigil, the screen remains in place

We ask permission and accept the gift of beauty

We are told that it is about Happiness and Celebration

May we all give ourselves permission to bloom and share our beauty with those around us.

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April 28, 2013June 20, 2013

Desert In Bloom – Yucca and more

I like the name Yucca. I like saying it.

I love the white and green blooms that look waxy and unreal. They burst forth with such vigor that the majority of the time, they keel over from the weight of their being. When I see them in the medians I wonder why they didn’t just stop growing. Why isn’t anyone watering them? And I remember, oh yes, this is the desert.

The plant leaves are sword shaped and have a tendency to stab and cut you if you are not careful.

Joshua Trees are a type of Yucca. You can read more about Yuccas on Wikipedia.

Here are some more colorful blooms; Fuscia and Yellow-orange Staghorn Cholla Blooms:

and for ultimate cuteness… One young bunny with ears back lit by the rising sun.

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April 23, 2013June 20, 2013

Desert In Bloom – Night Blooming Cereus

This particular cactus deserves a post of it’s own. It is breathtakingly beautiful and once open, the blooms last only one night.

It is a night blooming cereus that starts to open as the sun sets and starts to wilt as soon as the sun touches it the next day, and by evening, the bloom is shriveled, wilted, and dead.

Here is a photo of the bloom, 4 days before it opened.

And another photo taken this morning of the entire plant.

You can see the start of a brand new bud (looks really fuzzy) on the arm that is to the left of the one with the bloom. And yes, I took the time to clean up the dead branches in the foreground. I had placed them on the path in front of the cactus to protect the bud from the javelina that frequent the yard and like to feast on new cactus growth. If they were determined, the branches wouldn’t have stopped them.

Here’s another closeup taken this morning at sunrise. The flower was over 8 inches in diameter.

On April 3, 2012 – I captured a photo of two flowers in bloom at the same time. I called them Sisters.

If you would like one of these beauties in your year, the common name is Argentine Giant and you can find it at local nurseries labeled either as Trichocereus Candicans or Echinopsis Candicans.

check out these other related posts: Desert In Bloom and Desert In Bloom Part 2.

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April 14, 2013June 20, 2013

Desert In Bloom – Part 2

When I look outside and see the blooms, I feel an urgency to go out and take photos. The sun is out all day and with the heat, already the grass has begun to dry. The Cactus blooms in many cases last only a day or two at most.

Here is the second installment of Desert In Bloom. AKA, “eye-candy”. You can see Part 1 here…

On the one hand, I’m pleased with the results. On the other, I know that the photos don’t do it justice. What the photos leave out are the scents and sounds of a desert that refuses to be washed out and silenced.

It is close to impossible to capture the enormity and the scarcity of it all and so I opted to be intimate with the blooms.

My meditation the last few days has been a familiar one.

Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Despite my attempt to be present, I stepped on some spines that went through my shoe. I was looking at the flowers and not the ground.

I continued to take photos with a mindful limp. I figured that soon enough I will have my tweezers and I knew from the sting that this has only been a warning.

Fool! This is the start of snake season. Look before you step. I change my meditation.

Look. Look again. Then, Walk as if you are kissing the earth…

And, with all this beauty outside, I walk into my kitchen to find that the Christmas Cactus, perhaps feeling a bit envious, decided to bloom.

I will not be outdone by the cactus outside

If you would like to read more check out:

Desert In Bloom – Part 1

Old Man of the Andes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreocereus_celsianus

Stag Horn Cholla’s latin name is Opuntia Versicolor but I have yet to find a good link.

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April 12, 2013June 20, 2013

Desert In Bloom

I used to think that the desert lacked the change of seasons because it seemed that we were always in a perpetual state of sunshine. But now, after having lived here for 23 years, I have learned to redefine my expectations and my definitions of seasons.

Here’s a bouquet best left where it stands. Enjoy.

In the gallery above, are some of the different cactus that are in bloom around the house. I’ve captioned them with the common names… There are many varieties that are referred to by the same name.

If you would like to read more check out:

Golden Barrel – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinocactus_grusonii

Hedgehog cactus – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinocereus

Occotillo – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouquieria_splendens

Prickly pear cactus – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia

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September 28, 2012April 28, 2018

Finally a long walk at sunset with the pup

The moon was awesome tonight and the weather cool enough to cause me to linger and catch up with my neighbour at the top of her driveway while our dogs played.

With a moon like that, you can be sure that if you hear the sound of police or fire sirens it will be followed by the howling of the coyotes within earshot. Tonight we were surrounded. They were too far to see but there were many. The dogs fortunately stayed close by.

As I started walking towards the wash, I noticed that if I looked right (to the east) the moon was rising and that almost exactly to the west, the sun was setting. I stopped and took two photos.

Looking East.

Looking West.

There’s hardly anything left blooming. We’re at the end of the summer and everyone is looking forward to the early mornings when we actually get to open our windows again to enjoy the cooler temperatures.