A Pyrrhuloxia at the bird-feeder and blooms in the night

I spend a good share of my time at work- so I've put a bird feeder outside my office window, and get a fair amount of birds visit it. I've been noticing this Cardinal-like bird for a few weeks, and his mate visits as well. I did a little checking today and discovered it is a Pyrrhuloxia. Novice birdwatcher that I am, I'd not heard of this bird before but he is a real beauty. My pictures taken through my office window don't do him justice. Wikipedia has much better pictures and a little information too. The Pyrrhuloxia is found in Mexico and the Southern US states. He is from the same genus as the Cardinal. A new camera is in the near future for me and I can't wait to be able to capture better bird pictures with it. These are better if you click them.

And I just have to share some pictures of the big "night bloom" this week. I had TEN! at one time. The scent was heavenly- and the flowers as wonderful as ever. I only wish they would last.

I am fascinated by these flowers- the long stamens and the little wiggly center thing. I am sure theres a name for that---:)

When I took these next two, the following morning, there was a huge buzz coming from one of the flowers. Notice the black in the center...it was one of those great big black bumble bees and I only wish I'd been brave enough to get close to him as he was exiting, but those big bumbles freak me out...I only took pictures timidly as he was buried deep inside the bloom- rolling in that heaven.

Happy Weekend! I am absolutely overjoyed that it is Saturday!!!!

One year later...

Well my blogs 1 year anniversary just passed- what a year it has been. The best part of blogging has been the blogger friends I've made and the enjoyment I get visiting other garden blogs. I love showing my latest blooms and get some of the best advice around when my plants are misbehaving. Today was sure a day for Cactus blooms. Many of the cactus that bloomed earlier are putting on second show. Some like this parodia seem to always have a bloom in some stage or another.

This is the second show for this little Parodia sanguiniflora. I counted 6 flowers open today.

And another red one- lots of furry buds keep this one blooming all the time.

This is a newer cactus- the two buds are almost ready to pop.

I bought this succulent last spring- it was in bloom then, this is a second round of flowers.

A second bloom on the pentalophus.

And the Bishops Cap has another today

And the most thrilling for me? The baby brug buds...so far all buds have dropped on my brug, but I've modified the growing conditions a bit, and started using a special recipe on it, and this round of buds seem to be sticking around!

I can just smell those heavenly brug blooms now!

Bird view

What is Puffin so captivated with outside my office window early on a Sunday morning?

It is breakfast time for the birds... (please click the picture)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday.

It's A Record - Ninth Wettest Day in May in Tucson!!

It is not often, I get to take pictures of my plants in the rain. Especially in May- it just doesn't rain in May in Tucson. However we broke a record withe the half inch that came down today- the Ninth Wettest May Day on record!

The biggest of the bean trees-soaking up the rain!

The hydrangea gets pinker by the day!

And the little balloon flower has been blooming like crazy.

We also broke a record for low temperature, and Monday we broke a record for high temperature when it got up to 102- a week for weather records! The forecasters are predicting an early and wetter than usual Monsoon season- I can't wait!

Iris In Action

I just happened to notice that my African Iris was just ready to bloom the other afternoon and I couldn't resist sticking around to try and capture the event as it happened. I planted this gorgeous plant last summer, and it did not bloom until this Spring. It has only sent up one flower stalk, but the blooms have been steady from it, since it started. It lives in a mostly shaded area, in the flowerbed on my patio, that is shaded by a big Olive tree.

To see what is blooming around the world, and show what is blooming in your world on Bloomin' Tuesday, please visit Ms "Green Thumb" Jean's.

Dahlias, Hydrangeas and lilies- and a cactus bloom for Cactus Monday

Since I am still visiting my daughter I thought I would post some recent pictures that I never got around to putting up. I was really surprised when my two Dahlia plants started coming back this Spring. Everything I had read indicated the tubers needed to be dug up and stored over the winter, but busy gardener that I am, I never got that done. I had them both in pots, and when the tops died back last winter, I just put the tubers in the flower bed, covered them with mulch and hoped for the best. Well they popped right back this spring, with the peach colored one just a bit ahead of the pink one, but buds on both. Here is the first bloom from the peach one.

And a "bugs-eye" view of the opened flower

Here is the very first flower from the little Hydrangea I've been babying along for the last year and a half or so. It is the kind that blooms pink or blue depending on the soil PH. This plant really isn't cut out for AZ heat, and I often have to give it an extra watering, but its worth it to get Hydrangea flowers- some of my childhood favorites- to bloom for me!


I planted two Calla Lily bulbs a year ago in the early Spring, but although both had plenty of green leaves, neither of them bloomed. However this Spring I was surprised to see them both pop out, and one of them sent up a gorgeous bloom.

And for Cactus Monday. This little cactus bloomed in late April, and was putting out a second round of blooms when I left home last week. I don't know what kind of cactus this is but the blooms are gorgeous and there are tons of buds.

I am heading home today- can't wait to see all the changes in my garden! Happy Cactus Monday to everyone! Please head on over to Terri's Painted Daisies. Terri hosts Cactus Monday and leads a wonderful talented group of artists in showing off their cactus creations!

Balloons for the garden!

I bought this little "balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus)" last October, after seeing one on another blog. It bloomed last fall and then completely died back over the winter. When it started growing this Spring, at first I thought it was a weed, not even remembering the little plant that had grown in that place, until the first buds started and then my memory kicked in. It has done well, and the first bud opened up the other day.

I haven't been around the blog world much this last week, as my newest grandchild was born yesterday, May 16th. I have pictures posted on my Pie Blog- see the link in my sidebar if you want to see his sweet pictures.

A new favorite for Cactus Monday

I should know better than to start proclaiming "favorite" cactus blooms, as I did when my night blooming cactus bloomed last week. Right after that bloom died, one of my newest cacti, labeled just "Trichocereus" bloomed and what a gorgeous bloom it was! This one truly is in line for my favorite day bloomer anyway! The bloom lasted two full days, on my patio, out of direct sunlight. This cactus is new to my collection- bought within the last month from a local nursery. If anyone knows more about what kind of Trichocereus this might be please do comment. I had some fun doing some real close-up shots of the bloom- the red-pink-lavender colors were really striking.

Happy Cactus Monday- please visit Terri's Painted Daisies for some virtual cacti-hugging!

Saguaro blooms

Click the pictures to see them close-up

I visited my favorite Saguaro early yesterday morning- about 6 AM, before the night blooming flowers closed up for the day. I wasn't the only one up early to get close to those flowers- the bees had beat me there and were enjoying an early breakfast. I wish I were 10 feet tall and could take pictures that show the yellow centers of these amazing flowers.. Or maybe I could ask the neighbor if I could stand on her house.....ahhhh no...probably not.

Pomegranate Tales

It was a dark and stormy monsoon night last summer when the little pomegranate tree came to my yard. I wasn't sure at first how well it would transplant but my son dug the hole nice and deep and I hoped for the best. This Spring, the first flowers fooled me- I thought they were fruit- until a reader corrected me. The flowers have a leathery covering that splits open to reveal a bright orange bloom. When it dies, the bottom is the beginning of the fruit- or so it seems to me. This will be the first time I've watched the flower to fruit miracle for a pomegranate- hope you enjoy the pictures.