New Cactus Flowers

I recently purchased this one at Home Depot. Many had big, brilliant blooms on them, but I chose one with a few small buds and lots of 'pups' I can transplant. Flower color ranged from white to orange to reddish pink. The small buds gave no clue what color I would end up with, so I had to just wait and see.



A couple weeks later I found out with a brilliant (one-day) show.

Six buds opened together - one had been the day before.

Now I have to figure out where to plant it!

More Rock Stacking

OK, after checking out various rock stacking pictures on the net, I decided I can do better than my first attempt.

This was my second attempt.

And then these.

Another big one and the whole group together.  The big ones fell when I was trying to balance a third one.

The other ranger said there was no way I could possibly balance the top rock on this one. 

Looking back at the little river rock stacks.



Temporary 'Art'

I have seen this particular form of art before - on my bicycle trip around the country.  In Maine I met locals who had been inspired by a visiting artist who stacked rock in unique formations and were attempting their own little 'sculptures.'  It was quite easy to tell which of his remained and which were attempted by unpracticed eyes and hands. 

That said, I had an opporunity during a lull in directing traffic at a busy trailhead recently to make this stack.

Although nowhere near as talented as the stuff I had seen, I thought it was at least interesting with several small rock holding up the larger rock...Only took a few minutes, so I didn't think too much of it.  Until I tried to restack a similar arrangement the following day (as this one had already been knocked over).  Guess I got lucky finding centers of gravity and rocks that were relatively flat when stacked together.

Wooly Prickly Pear

 I have this nice prickly pear out front which bloomed today.  Jake ran inside to tell me about it and I grabbed the camera.  I tend to take pictures like its the first time it has bloomed, but once a year is too long to really remember how well or poorly my older pictures turned out. 

Anyhow, here's the whole plant.

 

One nice bunch

 

And one by itself.

Ocotillo

I know I probably put pictures of ocotillo flowers up before....I know I've taken them year after year.  I don't think I've ever posted anything about making a living fence of ocotillo. 

 Springtime is a busy season here where so many things bloom quickly.

At Pueblo Grande Museum there is a demonstration garden with a living fence around it to help prevent rodents from eating everything in the garden. It doesn't work.  But it does look pretty nice.

Canes are planted and watered and these have been wired together to help keep things orderly.

Here you can see some of the gaps in the fence where some canes didn't take. I cut about 45 canes in late December and planted them into some of the gaps around mid-January.  Some of the canes I planted are flowering, and hopefully, most will survive the summer and start growing roots.  I'll know for sure once leaves come out on them.  Traditionally, we have little success transplanting ocotillo.  This setting where I can get water to them on a fairly regular basis should help.

Downtown Phoenix - The Old and The New

This is one of my favorite downtown shots.

I don't know the name of the old building seen in the reflection here of the tall Chase building.

Here's a mix of old and new with the old San Carlos Hotel just left of center.

More old and new.

I thought this was cool and stopped in the middle of the street to take this shot.  Five different different buildings are partially reflected in the varying angles of glass in this building.

And the big Chase building.  I don't know - I always knew it as the Bank One buidling and kinda like that name better.

One more look back at the old building dwarfed by new highrises.

Downtown Phoenix - Civic Space Park

Civic Space Park is quite unique and has won several awards.

This strange sculpture looks really cool when lit up at night. I'll have to go back one of these evenings and prove it.

 

 Looking up from below.

A little north of the park is a famous Phoenix landmark: 

 The Westward Ho

In its day it was the largest building west of the Mississippi River.  It was also THE place for visiting celebraties to stay; Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman to name a few.   Now a low-income Senior Citizen place, the lobby is still decked out and should be checked out.

ASU School of Journalism is to the east of the park.

Scott is conducting business while in the recessed coffee shop patio - still a part of the park.

The shade structures to the left (and unseen over top of the photographer) are made of old (recycled) conduit tubes. The concrete is permiable, allowing water to go through into the ground and not run off into the streets and sewers.  You almost have to see the power point presentation on the design and build of this little park to really appreciate all the forward thinking and planning that when on.