Last Friday I had planned on hiking up to Seven Falls, but while driving to the Sabino Canyon Center, I decided to walk the trails near the center to photography the saguaro cactus in bloom.
While some saguaros may not yet have buds many do and are blooming daily. Now that most of the desert’s wildflowers have come and gone, these beautiful cactus blossoms are the current desert flower show.
These creamy-white, 3-inch-wide flowers with yellow centers usually bloom May and June. However, like most of the Sonoran Desert flowers this year, the blooming season has been much earlier.
Clustered near the ends of branches, the blossoms open during cooler desert nights, during which time the blossoms are visited by nectar-loving bats.
Each flower will bloom only once, closing by the next midday.
Before closing by midday the white-winged dove is a primary pollinator, along with the gila woodpecker and the…
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“Each flower will bloom only once, closing by the next midday.”
I didn’t know that. Thanks for the info! 🙂
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Always makes me smile to think that a plant that prickly could produce such beautiful blossoms. Maybe there’s hope for some of the prickly people we meet along life’s path.
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