Bougainvillea
I would say that I know this creature intimately, but that might bring to mind thoughts of romance and love, and while there was a lot of fighting, cutting, scratching, and bleeding between myself and the 19 bushes that I had in my yard for almost two decades, there wasn’t a lot of romance involved. I will admit, however, in spite of the scars that I still carry from our lengthy affair, that I do find the Bougainvillea to be quite beautiful…and worthy of more than a little bit of love….
Anyway…I made this image while visiting family in Arizona this past October. The flowers are actually the small white structures in the center of the modified pink leaves. If you’d like the complete Wiki rundown, you can click here for more info.
tribute to the desert
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While I prefer living near the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah, I still find an undeniable beauty in the Sonora Desert, pictured here in images from the area just north of Tucson, Arizona.
Found in the desert, too….
This post is a carry-over from the earlier one, Found in the desert…a little bit of a photo album from a relatively recent trip to Tucson, Arizona, USA. Again, the backdrop for the first image is the Santa Catalina Mountains…it used to be considered a geographic boundary of the greater Tucson area, but housing developments and commercial interests have moved or spread to this side over the years.
The photo contains representations of the well-known Saguaro cactus, Prickly Pear cactus, some Cholla, and even a bit of what I believe is a small Yucca in the bottom right corner…as well as what might be Greasewood bushes/shrubs.
Twin (?) Saguaro cacti that have seen better times…I believe they are approaching their end….
A nice patch of Prickly Pear cactus….
While the below photo isn’t nearly as impressive as the array of hummingbird images you’ll find when visiting Emilio at Disperser Tracks, I thought it was still pretty cool…. You can click on the highlighted words in the previous sentence to see his two posts on the Hummers of Summer 2012. Wonderful photos…..
A little bit of Cholla cactus skeleton in the below shot….
Fruit and not-so-friendly spines from a Golden Barrel cactus….
And lastly, a clutch of Saguaro cacti with some Prickly Pear in the foreground….
Thank you for visiting…I hope you’ve enjoyed the glimpse into the desert life of Tucson, Arizona.
Found in the desert
I recently spent a few days in Tucson, Arizona, USA…visiting with my wife’s mother, walking the morning-quiet roads of her desert neighborhood, and taking a new perspective when viewing the natural beauty of the surroundings.
Those are the Santa Catalina Mountains in the background, with Mount Lemmon at the highest point, some 9,157 feet in elevation. A Prickly Pear Cactus with fruit is in the foreground and the iconic Saguaro Cactus is prominent toward the left of the photo…I believe that might be a Palo Verde tree beneath the Saguaro with its green bark…and I’m not sure about the larger tree/shrub to the right…maybe a Greasewood.
Owls and woodpeckers often live in the holes that you see in the Saguaro’s limbs.
I believe these are Harris Hawks…they were mostly immobile when I was photographing them…but that only lasted for a minute or so….
Again, if I’m not mistaken, these are a variety of Cholla Cactus…and those spines can cause quite a bit of discomfort….
Wikipedia says that there are seven sub-species of Mule Deer…with the Rocky Mountain sub-species ranging the western portion of the United States and up into Canada. Aside from the Saguaro Cactus, you can also see the Ocotillo Cactus (the other tall and very skinny plant), Palo Verde, Prickly Pear Cactus, and directly behind the deer, what I believe might be more Greasewood.
Prickly Pear Cactus with fruit. You can purchase Prickly Pear jelly and candy in local stores…or you can “Google-it” and find them on-line, as well. 🙂
Desert sunsets can be beautiful…lighting the mountains with rose and orange hues…and bringing-out greater definition of the mountain’s many surfaces as shadows grow….
Pusch Ridge
Rugged and beautiful, to me….
Pusch Ridge is along the western edge of the Catalina Mountains, the range that provides a natural northern boundary for Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Scott's Place...Images and Words 