A Late Bloomer — Image by kenne
The normal blooming season for the giant saguaro cactus is in late May and June. Yesterday (December 30th) while hiking in Sabino Canyon I spotted this unusual event. I guess you can call it the new “Christmas cactus!”
The saguaro blooms open at night and last through the next midday. Each flower blooms only once.
kenne
Bear Canyon Trail Above Seven Falls — Image by kenne
— kenne
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White-Winged Dove Perched On Saguaro Cactus Fruit — Image by kenne
Saguaro Rib Cross In The Chapel at DeGrazia Gallery In the Sun — Image by kenne
The cross
a symbol
of freedom,
of existence —
representing
all things,
horizontal
and vertical.
kenne
On this Easter Sunday it was fitting that the Arizona Daily Star have a cover story on one of its best known artist, Ted DeGrazia. His version of the Stations of the Cross, “Way of the Cross”, now hangs as a seasonal, Lenten display at DeGrazia Gallery.
Every since moving to Tucson , Joy and I love going to the gallery. It is one of the places we take all out visitors.
“Religion is within yourself and you don’t have to go to church and you don’t have to be one of those people who goes every Sunday.” Ted DeGrazia
“I feel that if ‘The Way of the Cross’ happened, then it was felt by everybody on the face of the Earth. Here in Arizona we have saguaros, so I chose to use the symbol of the saguaro to place it here. And I’m sure it happened everywhere.” — Ted DeGrazia
kenne
Panorama made from three images, looking south along the eastern rim of The Rincon Mountains
Panorama of the Rincon Mountains made from three images. Each panorama was taken along the Turkey Creek Trail In Happy Valley, East of The Rincon’s. Turkey Creek Trail is a section of The Arizona Trail, east of Tucson. The trail leads into the Saguaro National Park, home of North America’s largest cacti, the giant saguaro. However, as these images show, the rolling hills and canyons of the east-side of the Rincon’s are in stark contrast to the saguaro forest location at the lower elevation of the west-side of the mountains.— Images by kenne
Desert Sunset — Image by kenne
Saguaro Cactus in The Tucson Mountains — Image by kenne
With the sun rising over the Rincon Mountains, east of Tucson in the Saguaro National Park,
The Monday Morning Milers begin hiking the Wildhorse Trail in a chilly 32 degree fall morning.
The Wildhorse Trail is very dusty from no rain in several months.
The desert grasses glow from the morning sun.
The trail leads toward one of the canyons along the Wildhorse Trail.
The park, named after the beautiful giant saguaro cactus, is occasionally graced by the rear crested saguaro cactus.
The saguaro cactus are rarely found in groups, such as this group of twelve 20 to 70-year-old saguaros.
Images by kenne
Long after death, the ribs of saguaro remain standing, a shadow of its live self.
kenne
Saguaro Cactus In Sabino Canyon — Images by kenne
(Click on any of the gallery images for larger view.)
This has been a great spring for saguaro blossoms, now bearing a lot of fruit. But as in life in general, there are always “late bloomers.” As I walked through Sabino Canyon the other day, I noticed some late bloomers.
Those of us living in the Sonoran desert are well aware of the current saguaro appearance — tall and skinny. Actually, skinny, yes; giving the appearance of being taller. The saguaro takes on a lot of water during the rainy season, giving a more pump, fat look, which is consumed during the dry season.
kenne
These saguaro buds are popping out all over.
The green-stick tree (Palo Verde) at providing a brilliant yellow contrast to the Sonoran Desert.
These Ocotillo blossoms seem to be weighing-down the branch. — Images by kenne
These images are examples of how spring arranges my window of the desert — as arranged by an E. E. Cummins abstract hand:
Spring is like a perhaps hand
Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere) arranging
a window, into which people look (while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here) and
changing everything carefully
spring is like a perhaps
hand in a window
(carefully to
and from moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there) and
without breaking anything.
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 gilded flicker.
Image by kenne
Tarantula Hawk — Image by kenne
This blue-black body wasp with bright rust-colored wings was spotted today atop a giant saguaro cactus on the Brown Mountain Trail, but no sign of tarantula’s. Not sure what he was doing way up there.
kenne
When the Tucson area experiences sub-freezing temperatures, as it did a week ago, many express a concern for our stately Saguaro cacti. This icon of the Sonoran Desert can be damaged by long hours below freezing, depending on the health of each cactus, but the biggest treat to the saguaro is fire. The above images show many saguaro cactus surrounded by an invasive species, Buffelgrass. The upper right of the top photos has no buffelgrass, which represents a more normal view of the canyon vegetation.
Buffelgrass grows densely and crowds out native plants of similar size. Competition for water can weaken and kill larger desert plants. Dense roots and ground shading prevent germination of seeds. Buffelgrass can kill most native plants by these means alone. However, buffelgrass provides an intense fuel for wildfires and resprouts vigorously after fires, where most native desert plants are killed — including the saguaros.
Removing buffelgrass from steep slopes such as those being inspected by Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist, Mark Hengersbaugh is a very difficult task, which often involves the individual removal of each plant.
The image below is from a posting about a year ago I did on buffelgrass. Many volunteers are at work removing this invasive plant, but many more are needed. (Click here for link to earlier posting.)
kenne
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