There's very little in the way of wildflowers in the back country this
season due to the lack of winter rains, so I have been looking around for
opportunities along my daily cycling routes here in Tempe. There are a few
homes in the southern part of town that have defied the "Disney Desert" form of
landscaping and have instead turned their front yards in to nice showcases of
more natural desert flora. One home in particular has a couple of interesting
species, one being a well formed Strawberry Cactus:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/13624098065/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/13624099075/
and the other being a species of succulent that I have heard refered to as
Desert Candle but which I cannot for the moment properly identify:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/13624099265/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/13624099855/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/13624100085/
Another home nearby has an interesting cactus with orange flowers that I
have yet to identify:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/13624198995/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/64004640@N03/13624199025/
Notice the arrangement of rocks in the next to last photo. The owner has
gone to the trouble of gsthering rocks that are typical of lower altitude
Sonoran Desert slopes and arranging them in a way that you would commonly find
them in a natural environment. This is a high degree of detail that I rarely
see, but I would not want to encourage people to go to unless they can find the
rocks in areas that have been disturbed by road grading.
Chris
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
- Hunter S. Thompson
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