Flowers of Arizona and Texas

Good Morning!!

Today I am going to write about flowers we saw on our trip.  And two new plants I got to bring home with me.

As we drove through Arizona, coming and going, the saguaros were blooming mightily.  I love the saguaro blossoms.  There's a kind of compound bloom that crowns the top of the plant and the top of each arm. I tend to think of them as a kind of water-lily up on top of each one but they are not like that at all. There are multiple flowers in a roughly circular pattern. The flowers are white in color, and very visible. I think I'll look on the web for a picture to put in here.There ya go.  Now, more of a closeup:

Are they not lovely?

A neat thing about the color of those flowers, and they do have a greeny-creamy tint to the white of them, is that there are two other plants blooming at the same time with the same color of flowers: the yucca, which sends up huge stands of blossom: and the matilija poppy which was all along the roads of AZ and NM: and the three plants all tone in, to a haunting picture of loveliness, in Arizona.

In Texas, we were past the big wildflower season, although we were in the Hill Country where Ladybird sowed so many seeds.  We saw, along the roads, lots of purple thistles of my childhood: And of course there were the ubiquitous "sunflowers" too:

When we got to Brownsville, we scoured my sister's yard for baby chili pequines, which I have always found. I like to replenish my CA stock every few years because they get too woody and kind of kick the bucket. We could not find any! But she gave me a handsome cultivar, Emperor's Candlestick, which we put into a plastic bag and brought home safely:
And I surely hope this thrives in the cold California air....
And last, but not least, sister no.3 was closing her AZ home for the summer when we crashed in upon them on our way home, and gave me the croton that graced her front hall (under a gro-light). It should not need a gro-light in my kitchen so will try to keep it going. I love crotons; used to hate them as a kid as I hated all colored-leaf plants. Kids have funny ideas sometimes: plants are supposed to be green.

There is not room to do more than mention the many lovely blooming cacti we saw along the way...I have no photos of any of this as I lost my camera and found it in time to take picture only of dismal motel room in Van Horn, TX,lol. Picture not included today!

Hasta mañana!  YAZZYBEL