Blooms and Barbs

I was hoping that I would be in Saguaro National Park during the spring blooming season for thee saguaro cactus.  Unfortunately, I was there a bit too early.  Blooming season is generally May into June (darn!).  But, there were interesting things to see among the other blooms and barbs!

Saguaro Texture

There’s something about the texture of the saguaro cactus that fascinates me.  I love the patterns that the rows of barbs make up. The stems of the saguaro generally measure between 18” and 24” thick, filled with water.

Barrel Cactus Bloom

One of the cactus that were blooming were some barrel cactus.  I think this is just getting ready to burst forth with blooms.  Or, it’s just finished, but still looks nice!  I’m never sure!

Saguaro Cactus Points

Ouch!!  I felt like I needed to take a super close up of the saguaro’s barbs, to really get an idea of how painful it would be if I got stuck!  And, heaven forbid, one should fall on me!  Because they are full of water, they can weigh up to 8 tons!

Busy Bumble Bee

I’m not sure what type of cactus bush plant sprouted this daisy like blooms.  But the bees were certainly happy around it!  I didn’t notice bees anywhere else, except around these flowers.  It just seemed funny that I didn’t even get a glimpse of one elsewhere!

Ocotillo Blooms

Well, the ocotillos must have gotten plenty of rain – they were vibrant green and sprouting such bright rosy pink blooms at their very tips!  This is another cactus that I just am attracted to because of its quirkiness – so tall and spindly, and can quickly change from this lovely green to what looks like a dried out stick, in a matter of days with no rain.  And, it will change back to green just as quickly when it does rain again!

Saguaro Thorns

I got pretty close to this saguaro to get this nice view of its barbs.  You can see this guy looks to have about 3 arms.  I’ve read the record for number of arms is 50 on a giant saguaro somewhere in this national park, but I didn’t see it on my travels this time around!

Enjoy!