Archive for the ‘Saguaro Cactus’ Tag
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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Saguaro Shadows — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Saguaro Shadows
Sun above the canyon wall
Alone, I hum songs.
— kenne
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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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West of Tucson — Panorama Image by kenne
The trail is dusty
Stirred only by our steps,
A soft breeze unable to lift
The dust above our boots
Often coming together as strangers
Sharing a love of the wild
And a desire to hear sounds
In nature’s best.
Nature walks are fine
Surrounded by experts
Who share their knowledge
Born with a feel for the moment
An eye for beauty and form
Nature speaking to the senses
Where nothing is perfect
And everything Is perfect.
— kenne
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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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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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Snow On The Peaks Above Sabino Canyon — Image by
We are blessed to live on this beautiful planet.
Yet, most people don’t show any gratitude.
Benedicto
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous,
leading to the most amazing view.
May your rivers flow without end,
meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells,
past temples and castles and poets’ towers
into a dark primeval forest
where tigers belch and monkeys howl,
through miasmal and mysterious swamps
and down into a desert of red rock,
and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm
where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs,
where deer walk across the white sand beaches,
where storms come and go
as lightning clangs upon the high crags,
where something strange and more beautiful
and more full of wonder than
your deepest dreams waits for you–
beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.
– Edward Abbey
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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 Vita Sackville-West,
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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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Springtime In The Sonoran Desert — Image by kenne
This saguaro has grown under the protection of a mesquite tree serving as a nurse tree.
This spring the cactus is loaded with flower buds, many of which a beginning to bloom.
— kenne
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Budding Season For Saguaro Cactus (Sabino Canyon) — Images by kenne
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Northern Mockingbird On Saguaro Blossom — Photo-Artistry by kenne
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“The Early Bird Gets the Nectar” (White-winged Dove on Saguaro Cactus Buds) — Image by kenne
In April, the budding of saguaros is followed by the return of white-winged doves from Mexico who love the nectar in
the saguaro blossoms. This image captures a white-winged dove atop buds soon to blossom — another take on
“The early bird gets the worm.”
— kenne
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Picacio Peak State Park — Image by kenne
“In 1848, the Mormon Battalion constructed a wagon road through Picacho Pass. The forty-niners on their way
to California used this road. In the late 1850’s the Butterfield Overland Stage was carrying passengers through
this area. Picacho Peak’s most noted historic event occurred on April 15, 1862, when Confederate and Union
scouting parties met in the Battle of Picacho Pass during the Civil War. This was the largest Civil War clash to
take place in Arizona.” — Source: azstateparks.com
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Saguaros On My Mind — Images by kenne
A nurse tree
can help raise
generations
of saguaros
only to die
long before
the cactus’.
— kenne
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Becoming is Superior to Being 