Hectia montana, aka False Agave, is a Bromeliad and a member of the pineapple family. Described as strongly toothed, you don’t want to get your hand too close! Our instructor’s tip for remembering the name is….it’s so tough, you could kick the heck to montana 🙂
Tag Archives: ezpixels
Opuntia engelmannii
Happy Valentine’s Day! This heart is courtesy of a Javelina (Collared Peccary). They love chomping on fresh new pads of the Prickly Pear cactus. If they take a little nip in just the right place, sometimes we’re treated to a pad or two in the shape of a heart. It’s hard to get upset with these animals even when they overturn every one of my Cactus looking for fresh roots!
http://www.desertusa.com/magnov97/nov_pap/du_collpecc.html
Echinocereus engelmannii
Echinocereus engelmannii….rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?! And yet, I can remember this one because it has the most striking flowers of all the cactus, I think. Many are near fuchsia, a color which Wikipedia describes as Electric Magenta. This is especially fitting when they’re backlit.
Encelia farinosa
Brittlebush is beginning to bloom around the house….a sign of Spring. A pretty name for a pretty flower. It’s also easy to pronounce so I think I have this one down 🙂
Carnegiea gigantea
Saguaro cactus seen from our guest room window.
Echinocactus grusonii
Commonly called Golden Barrel, these cactus have yellow spines that when viewed from a distance, make them look gold. If you haven’t guessed, I’m trying to learn botanical names for an upcoming exam. Posting them each day gets the name in my head 🙂
Simmondsia chinesis
AKA Jojoba, Simmondsia chinesis is my favorite desert shrub. The fruit produced by the female plant is a nut that’s pretty tasty! This photo shows the flower of the male and female.
Cleo and me
Not exactly the shot I had in mind but it’s tough to photograph Cleo while I’m trying to walk him!
Luckhoffia buchmann
Succulents were on the agenda in landscaping class yesterday. Our teacher, Scott, brought in many samples from a private collection and each was as unique and interesting as this one.
http://www.dbg.org/index.php/education/landscapeschool/schedule
(Desert Landscaping Certification program)
Frost cloth
Heavy frost covers the sheets I used to cover some of the more sensitive plants. There is also ice in areas. According to the weather service, there’s only one more night to worry about.