Maricopa Arizona- home of my "pies"

My daughter and grandkids, the "pies" live in the little town of "Maricopa", which is a bedroom community of the Phoenix area. The town consists mostly of large housing developments where the houses are large and beautiful, but placed very close together so there isn't much of a side yard at all. The landscaping is just getting going as the neighborhood was new but there were still plenty of cool plants to see. I took a walk with two of my pies the other day- wanna come along?

Hey- Wait UP for ME!

I think this is a little Bottle Brush plant- I have one at home which refuses to bloom.

I think this is a Yucca that is flowering.

And a close up of the flower stalk.

I thought this cactus was really neat, the way the babies are all growing on the side. I think it is a golden barrel. I have a golden barrel at home that doesn't seem to do much at all. No blooms- no babies either.

And I think this is some kind of Agave- putting up its once in a lifetime flower stalk, after which the plant will die. Kind of beautiful and tragic isn't it?

And a close-up of the flower stalk

I don't know what this little plant is but it had almost completely covered the front yard of one home. It seemed like a great ground cover and I would love to try this one at home to cover up some of the endless dirt I have.

And the most exciting find of the afternoon was this Bee Swarm! Another hive waiting to happen here- the pies thought this was pretty darn cool! Click on this one to really see all the bees!

I hope you enjoyed the little tour of a Maricopa neighborhood. The neat and clean yards sure put my chaotic one to shame, but my heart belongs to the wild side and although it is always hard to leave the pies, I was glad to come home to Tucson.