SYNCHRONIZED BLOOM OF CACTUS FLOWERS

Photos show a flower of Lobivia huascha rubra from a slight distance and then two close-ups of bees visiting the flowers.
Late in May, one of the loveliest of our landscaping cacti burst into bloom. This cactus, native to Bolivia, is Lobivia huascha rubra. Its brilliant flowers are mostly red, but various clones or varieties show colors ranging from orange-red to blue-red. There is also iridescence on the petals to some extent. In the clone I have growing in my yard, the petals are overlaid with a violet tinge that shimmers in the sun, changing as you view it from different angles.

Not only does a single flower have great beauty, but the plant bursts into bloom bearing multiple flowers per stem, and a given plant can have many stems. The largest plant I have displayed over 70 blossoms open on May 31. The blooms only last one day, but then there are repeat, smaller blooms later in the season. This plant has been used widely in hybridizing between Lobivia and Echinopsis (now including Trichocereus as well) to introduce red coloration into flowers.

I remembered from my days at the Arboretum that when our Lobivia huascha rubra plants were blooming, plants were also in bloom on the same day all over the state. I found this out by calling other botanical gardens and asking. So, I drove around our neighborhood here in Queen Valley, and sure enough, everyone who had this plant in their landscaping had many flowers open on May 31 as well. There were some truly stunning displays. It's too bad that so many of the people here are snowbirds, roosting in cooler summer climates; they missed this event.

The native bees had a field day visiting the flowers. They zoomed in and out of the flowers, intent on harvesting pollen and nectar. These are very handsome, gray plush ground-nesting bees. They often remained deep in the flower for some minutes before emerging to fly to another blossom. Their presence could be detected by the wiggling stamens as the bee moved around their bases.

Rare late May rain

Photos: left, bee flying from saguaro flower; center top, ironwood tree; center below, closeup of ironwood flowers; right, foothill palo verdes in bloom.



It's hard to believe, but last week we had several days and nights of rainy weather. My rain gauge recorded 1.10 inches of rainfall over the duration of the low pressure. Normally this is a very dry time of year. The foothill palo verdes and ironwoods bloomed for a couple weeks longer than they normally do as a result. The yard is alive with toads; red-spotted toads, Sonoran Desert toads, spadefoot toads, Woodhouse's toads. The many kinds of wild desert bees have been very happy with the abundance of blooms; clouds of them surround the blooming ironwood trees.

I'm just getting over a case of the intestinal flu; lasts for 5 days or more, depending on the person. I felt badly not being able to get outside and spend time photographing the last flush of spring color in the desert. I did get some photos before and after being ill and am posting some of them.

The saguaros have been blooming too, but are nearly finished now. There is one old venerable saguaro in my yard which has a down-bending arm, placing saguaro flowers within easily photographable range. Normally one has to climb a ladder to get saguaro flower closeups. I was able to get some good photos of some of the bees that visited the flowers.

An early monsoon is being predicted for this year. I wouldn't be surprised in view of the May rain, which had a distinctly monsoonal pattern, if this does happen. It sure gives a lovely background of picturesque clouds for landscape photos.

Roadside rain puddle and storm clouds above the desert.


Raindrops on Queen Elizabeth rose. Jojoba fruit with raindrop jewel. Young opuntia pad with raindrops.





In my last blog, I promised rain pictures. Finally, here they are. It is nice to look back at them now that the summer heat is beginning and remember these cool, lovely days. Yesterday it was 102 degrees, today 105 degrees, and tomorrow is supposed to set a record high for May 17 of 107 degrees. Because of the late rain and rather moderate temperatures up till now (and the nights are still lovely, down in the 70's) the desert still looks colorful. The foothill palo verdes are in full bloom and the ironwoods are just approaching their peak bloom. The saguaros are blooming, and the ocotillos have just passed bloom. Next time I'll show some of the colorful flowers of the late spring/early summer. The photo above is of bookleaf mallee (Eucalyptus kruseana) with raindrops on the leaves.

This yellow flower has red stamens; most yellow flowers have yellow stamens.


Above are dark red cholla flowers. Deep pink flowers seem to glow.
Dark orange flower.


It's been a while since my last blog. Several things got in the way; income taxes primary among the things. We had some lovely rain last week, rather unexpected for this late in April, but very welcome. The cool weather and moisture is extending the bloom on the palo verdes and cacti (cholla and hedgehog especially) and the desert looks really green. Lots of seeds are setting on the creosote bush and many bushes are still flowering as well.

Our back 5 acres is a paradise of rainbow-colored cactus blossoms. The cholla cacti are blooming, and the flower colors range from yellow through oranges and terra cottas to pinks, rose, and varying shades of red. The photos I'm posting show some of the different colors. The cactus bees are having a wonderful time wallowing in the stamens, collecting pollen.

I took a bunch of photos right after the rainstorm, showing lovely drops of rain water on various plants. However, my hard drive is about full now, so I'm having to back up my humongous photo files to an external hard drive and to DVD's to make room for downloading what I have on the camera flash card. It's actually good that I'm being forced to do the backups--long overdue--because I'd hate to loose all the images I've painstakingly accumulated over several years. Hopefully I'll have the computer tasks done by next week so I can post some of the rain photos.

Spring continues

Beautiful weather; today's high in the low 70s. Plants and people and critters are loving it. We got just a slight trace of rain last night; wish we would get more but the storms are staying to the north and we're getting mostly the winds, which stir up the dust and the allergies, and the barometric changes which bring grief to joints such as mine.

Beautiful flowers continue to come into bloom and more interesting creatures come to light as we work around the yard. We found a tiny banded gecko when moving cardboard boxes; it's one of the youngest I've encountered. We let it find a new home after it got photographed. The hybrid tea rose shown above is the variety "Arizona" which does very well here indeed--appropriately named! It is fragrant as well.

Here are some photos of critters I've found in my yard recently. The moth photos show the Lined Morning Sphinx, Celerio lineata. The larvae resemble the familiar tomato hornworm. The hindwing reveals a pink color when wings are open. Often people mistake this diurnal moth for a "baby hummingbird" since it hovers in front of flowers to collect nectar through its long tongue.

The other two photos are of molluscs. One is of a terrestrial snail, and the other is of a slug.

Hedgehog cactus flower


It's really spring in the Sonoran Desert. The flush of wildflower bloom is over now, but the perennial plants, trees, shrubs and cacti are just entering into their full glory. The blue palo verdes are covered in yellow, the brittlebush is blooming, as are the desert mallow and fleabane daisies. The hedgehog cacti, with brilliant large magenta flowers, are just beginning to open. We're having a spell of wonderful cool weather right now, with nights in the 40's and days in the 70's. It's great to be alive!

My yard is brimming with color as well. The primrose jasmine, citrus trees, mescal bean bush (above general view and closeup of native bee in flower, Sophora secundiflora), red fairy duster, silvery-leaf cassia, Western redbud, and Chinese tamarix are all in flower, and the air is fragrant with mingled perfumes. The roses are in heavy bud, and since I mostly grow fragrant varieties, in a couple weeks we'll have new scents in the air. Hummingbirds are nesting, doves are mating, and there are many kinds of butterflies visiting flowers and laying eggs. There's lots to see and lots to photograph, so I'm not spending much time blogging. I'd rather be outside.