Prickly Pear Cactus Flower: The Best for Last

The last -- and my favorite -- of the "5" Star Prickly Pear photos. I especially like this photo because of the rich dark burgundy and black background that offsets the yellow flower. The burgundy inside the flower matches the background for added beauty. I took this photo at Saguaro National Park.

Prickly Pear Cactus Flower

Prickly Pear Cactus Flowers

Back to my alphabetical series on my "5" Star Photos. I left off with Prickly Pear Cactus Flowers. How about this bouquet?

Prickly Pear Cactus Flowers

Prickly Pear Cactus Blooming

Prickly Pear Cactus is everywhere in Southern Arizona. It grows like a weed. If a pad breaks off, it will grow roots and become a new plant.  But it is also susceptible to drought. And, it is also the home of ground squirrels and other burrowing animals. While the cactus serves to protect the animal the burrowing leaves the roots exposed which eventually kills the cactus. Between the current drought and the burrowing there is quite a lot of dead cactus everywhere as well. 

Yet, starting in late March and into May, the Sonoran Desert becomes alive with Prickly Pear Cactus flowers. On any given cactus there will be 20-40 cactus "pads." On each cactus pad there will be 2 to 8 flowers. 

Here is the first of several "5" Star Prickly Pear Cactus photos. I especially like the composition of this one with the cactus off center allowing for the contrast with the grasses and wildflowers.

Prickly Pear Cactus Blooming

A Big Thank You!!

It all started three years ago today. My first post on my first blog site. In those three years I have had 63,206 visitors. While not exactly Julie/Julia territory, I am nonetheless thankful for all of those who chose to visit. And, while I am aware that it is the "World Wide Web", I have been stunned that I have gotten so many visitors from Russia, Germany, India, Australia, The Netherlands, France and Mexico. The leading three are the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. which is not quite as surprising because they make up the lion's share of our B&B guests. There are several very faithful visitors who mention something to me on the phone or through email. And, there are a few faithful that comment frequently on my site including Rohrerbot who inspires me to continue.

As for the posts themselves, here are the most frequented pages:

Yellowstone National Park: 2005 Page Views, 11/29/2009
Cinnamon Black Bear

Prickly Pear Cactus Blossoms: 818 Page Views, 4/26/10
Prickly Pear Cactus in Bloom

Eating: Carnivores: 790 Page Views, 6/30/10
Grey Wolf

Gila Monster: 569 Page Views, 5/4/10
Gila Monster

Black Bear Scolding: 524 Page Views, 11/30/9
Black Bear with Cuibs

Thank you all again.

Dennis

Vacation: Day II

We have gathered up our grandchildren (Noah and Ruby) and with Matt and Rung are off to Mesa Verde, Colorado.

One of my favorite Prickly Pear Cactus photos.

Saguaro National Park Visit

We did another hike in Saguaro National Park yesterday. On the way to the park, about 1/2 a mile from our place we saw this Black Tail Jackrabbit. He seemed to want his photo taken, so I obliged. We hiked the Loma Verde, Squeeze Pen, Pink Hill, Loma Verde loop (3.8 miles). Once again we were greeted with an array of beautiful flowers. I have taken quite a lot of Prickly Pear cactus flowers. But, the one here (second photo) particularly caught my eye and cried out for a photo. Wow, was I glad. I love the color contrast. It is my new favorite cactus photo. The last photo is of a Fairy Duster. The flowers were mostly a little past their prime. But this one flower was still in fine form and provided a nice photo.

Prickly Pear Cactus Flowers - They're Everwhere

As you can see the Prickly Pear flowers come in many different colors. Yellow with red inside, pink, cream, or just plain yellow. I counted 17 budding flowers on the pad of the last photo. Imagine 50 pads per Prickly Pear. Now imagine a hundred or more Prickly Pear.

Prickly Pear Cactus Flowers

The Prickly Pear Cactus are now starting to bloom. Prickly Pear Cactus is the predominant cactus in the Sonoran Desert. That means it is everywhere. Each plant may have as many as 50 "pads." Each pad may have as many as five flowers the size of a rose. So, you can imagine how beautiful it is. There are dozens of varieties of Prickly Pear. The top two photos are of the most common type: Engelmann Prickly Pear.  The third photo is Pancake Prickly Pear, which has very short and fuzzy looking thorns. DO NOT TOUCH!

Bloomin' Cactus

Well, I was going to share another "sunset photo", but it rained all night and is raining again today and it just didn't seem to fit. I am not sure whether my alternative fits either but, I'll try to explain. With all this rain we are having the wildflower and cactus blooming seasons should be spectacular. So, I thought maybe if I shared a prickly pear cactus blooming it would perk up our spirits with something to look forward to. If you have not visited the Sonoran Desert in late March, April, and May you have missed the desert in all its grandeur. Wildflowers come first, then hedgehog cactus, and then the prickly pear. Prickly pear cactus is everywhere, it grows like a weed. Often Round Tail Ground Squirrels (also referred to as "pack rats") make their home under the cactus. Over time, this results in the "death" of the cactus which is not the most pleasant -- to put it another way, you would never want a photo. However, in April, they bloom. Each pad of each prickly pear may have anywhere from three to ten flowers the size of a rose. Easily a hundred flowers per cactus. Multiply that times the number of prickly pear cactus and you've got a beautiful flowering "garden." Next to bloom are the agaves and aloes. We have hundreds on the property. They shoot up stalks with colorful yellow, orange, or red flowers. These plants may bloom well into the summer. In June and July come the Saguaros. The saguaro flowers are white and form a "crown" at the end of each "arm." Then come the barrel cactus with a crown of red or orange flowers on top. All in all a photographers dream. All in your back yard. Thank you, rain!!!