Always More Saguaros On The Sunny Side of A Hill ( November 8, 2022, in Sabino Canyon) — Image by kenne
Saguaros love sunlight, so the southern part of a ridge or hill will attract the growth of many saguaros.
Archive for the ‘Saguaro Cactus’ Category
Saguaros On The Sunny Side of A Hill Leave a comment
Saguaro Sunrise Leave a comment
Saguaro Sunrise — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Saguaro stands tall
Stately as the sun rises
Desert royalty.
— kenne
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A Morning Walk In The Canyon 3 comments
Lower Sabino Canyon Panorama (October 5, 2022) — Photomerge by kenne
I walk alone in the early morning
heading up a canyon trail
toward the mountains; the dust
rises from my steps better defining
the trail for hikers to follow.
The saguaros along the trail
reach the sky from the basin floor
as hikers pass by soon to return
to avoid the midday heat —
what were you expecting?
For the day does not hover,
not even for a moment
as the sun rises overhead,
the scars of my hiking remain
embedded in my thoughts
refusing to grow feeble, just old.
— kenne
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Mighty Saguaro 2 comments
Mighty Saguaro — Image by kenne
The Mighty Saguaro
The mighty saguaro,
so majestic and tall,
holds its lifelong secrets
surprising one and all.
The seedling saguaro
begins small and afraid,
hoping it will survive
beneath the nurse plant’s shade.
The tiny saguaro
grows a little each year,
searching for the water
which is precious and dear.
The struggling saguaro
pushes upward for days,
glad it keeps avoiding
a new herbivore’s gaze.
The lucky saguaro
survives the desert heat,
outliving the nurse plant
not knowing of its feat.
The patient saguaro
looks skyward at all hours,
until at age fifty
it produces first flowers.
The giving saguaro
shares its bounty with all
who wait for months on end
for tasty fruits to fall.
The youthful saguaro
knows at seventy-five
that its newly formed arms
keeps desert friends alive.
The aging saguaro
has been a willing friend
to desert’s small creatures
dependent to the end.
The mighty saguaro
grows to fifty feet high,
waiting two hundred years
to almost touch the sky.
— Debbie Emery
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Saguaro Cactus In The Canyon Leave a comment
A Many-Armed Saguaro Cactus (Sabino Canyon) — Image by kenne
Mighty Saguaro
Saguaro cacti rise up like mighty sentinels
boldly claiming the high desert plains
tall and proud, their prickly arms
forewarn intruders to stop and beware.
A daunting presence, bold and majestic
toughness flows through their cacti veins
Saguaro endure long hours in the barren wilderness
their roots persevere under the dry, hard crust.
With no respite, save for the night
Saguaro rule valiantly in a god forsaken land.
— Laura Leiser
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Sabino Canyon Green Panorama Leave a comment
Monsoon Rains are Greening Up Sabino Canyon — Panorama Image by kenne
It’s not easy to tell, but saguaros are getting plump sucking up the water — believe me.
— kenne
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Crested Saguaro Leave a comment
Crested Saguaro Upon The Saguaros — Image by kenne
Cristate or “crested” saguaros form when the cells in the growing stem begin to divide outward,
rather than in the circular pattern of a normal cactus. This is an unusual mutation that results
in the growth of a large fan-shaped crest at the growing tip of a saguaro’s main stem or arms.
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Despite A Mega Draught Leave a comment
Brittlebush and Saguaro Cactus — Image by kenne
A megadrought continues in the west to make life difficult for desert plants.
Still, a common desert shrub, brittlebush, knows spring is the time to green up and bloom.
A member of the sunflower family, yet another symbol of strength during difficult times — a.k.a. Ukraine.
— kenne
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Death In The Canyon Leave a comment
Dead Saguaro In Sabino Canyon (January 15, 2014) — Image by kenne
The skin is the first to go
in the beginning protected
from the sun by a nurse tree.
This symbol of the Sonoran Desert
so slow to grow in the beginning
going unnosed for years
in the shadows of the nurse tree.
We teach children about this icon
by having the guess the age
of a saguago based on its heigh.
— kenne
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Nursing Four Saguaros Leave a comment
Nurse Tree for Four Saguaros In Sabino Canyon — HDR Image by kenne
“I have come to the conclusion,
after many years of sometimes sad experience,
that you cannot come to any conclusion at all.”
― from In Your Garden Again by
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Life and Death in Sabino Canyon Leave a comment
Life and Death in Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
First/Last Meditation
Time
is in night’s colors.
Quiet night.
Over enormous moons,
eternity
is set at twelve.
Time’s gone to sleep
forever
in his tower.
All clocks
deceive us.
Time at last has
horizons.
— Federico Garcia Lorca
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Cut Saguaro Ten Years Out 3 comments
I took this image in September 2011 while on my first Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) nature walk.
I was so appalled that someone cut off the top of this young (probably 35-40 years old) saguaro cactus.
Sadly, over the years, I have frequently seen this type of vandalism.
This Image, taken July 27, 2021, illustrates the resiliency of nature. — Image by kenne
Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns,
so that each small piece of her fabric reveals
the organization of the entire tapestry.
— Richard Feynman
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Giant Saguaro Cactus In Sabino Canyon 1 comment
Giant Saguaro Cactus In Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
Along the mountain ridges,
Across the desert floor;
Arms like verdant armor,
Stalwarts guard our door.
Shading for the lizard,
Haven for the wren,
Source of inspiration,
For past and present men.
–Earl Bloss, “Saguaros,” in Arizona Highways, 1973
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Pincushion Cactus Flowers Leave a comment
Pincushion Cactus Flowers — Image by kenne
When most people think of cactus in the Sonoran Desert, the image that comes to mind is the giant saguaro cactus.
The saguaro grows only in the Sonoran Desert is one of the largest cacti. The saguaro cactus is a symbol of the American Southwest.
Its inner meaning expresses the idea of standing tall, adapting to the environment, and providing shelter and nourishment for others.
Given its stature and authority, it holds a grandfatherly type of wisdom.
Because saguaros are so common in the Tucson area, it is home to one of this nation’s national parks, the Saguaro National Park.
However, it is not the most common cactus in the Sonoran Desert. That honor goes to the little pincushion cactus.
Being so small and often in the shadows of the giant saguaro, their chances of being noticed are slim unless they are blooming.
— kenne
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Saguaro Sunrise 1 comment
Saguaro Sunrise — Photo-Artistry by kenne
saguaro sunrise
just above the canyon ridge
shadows in the dark
— kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 