Cactus Bloom and Pollinator
Blooms are numerous on our cactus this Spring! This gorgeous orangy-red specimen is another of the non-natives in my yard. Capturing a fast moving native bee is always a bonus!
Posts from the ‘Macro’ Category
May 4
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Apr 30
Salmon Prickly Pear
Javelina LOVE non-native cactus so in years past, this poor Prickly Pear has not been allowed to fully bloom. But Javelina Cafe is now closed so all my non-natives finally have a chance to show off and they are making up for lost time. Besides what you see here, there are at least 25 more buds waiting to open on this Prickly Pear! I had fun photographing the blooms with various lenses yesterday. I couldn’t decide on just one image so here is a collage.
Apr 21
Torch
Two blooms opened yesterday on my Torch cactus. An apropos common name for this gorgeous cactus. More blooms to come, I hope!
Apr 18
Wildflower-Photography Walk
Yesterday, along with botanical expert Steve Jones, I led a Photography/Wildflower walk to Brown’s Ranch. Not many flowers to see this year so this Desert Holly (Acourtia nana) was a real treat. My wide angle lens was almost touching the plant which makes it look larger than it is but in reality, they’re so tiny, they are almost impossible to spot unless you know what you’re looking for.
Apr 14
Desert Holly
Lots of Desert Holly (Acourtia nana) is surfacing on the Brown’s Ranch trail. This photo makes them look to be easy to find but they are TINY! Although they can reach 8 inches tall, they are typically much smaller in our area. The leaves we’re seeing are only a couple of inches tall. The flowers are especially difficult to see so…if you hike the trail in the next few days, look very closely on the sides of the trail….especially beneath Creosote or trees.
Apr 8
Lady Fingers Day Two
We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday which this Lady Finger Cactus obviously preferred because the blooms opened a little wider and there were more of them than the day before. Sorry Javelina….you’re not getting them this year!
Apr 7
Lady Finger Cactus
This Lady Finger Cactus (Echinocereus pentalophus) is another of my discount finds. It was 1/4th this size but as you can see, it’s responded really well….especially since I fenced in Javelina Cafe. I knew it was about to bloom yesterday so in between doing taxes, I set my timer and went out every two hours to check on it. These photos were taken about 11am. It was heavily overcast yesterday which might explain why they didn’t open all the way but I was happy that I didn’t miss it totally like I usually do 🙂
Captured with Canon 180mm Macro
Apr 4
Candelilla
Scouting my yard for a photo of the day, I noticed my Candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphilitica) is finally starting to bloom. Yea! I was worried it wouldn’t bloom this year but several stalks are filled with blooms right now. The flowers are so small most people don’t even notice them when they pass the plant. To reveal its complexities, I used a Canon 100mm Macro lens. Who knew! CLICK HERE to read about this plant’s interesting properties.
