Tu-Na Travels: Ahhh! Springtime in the Desert

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 I didn’t have to travel far to find this beautiful blooming cactus. It lives across the street from me.

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My life’s been a bit hectic lately. When my husband suggested we take a day and go explore the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, I jumped at the chance. For you see, I like springtime in the desert.

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Three Chihuly glass sculptures greet us as we enter the Desert Botanical Garden. I do like Chihuly, too.

#4. I Like Springtime in the Desert.

I mean—I really like—springtime in the desert. I knew that most of the real showy prickly pear cactus flowers had already come and gone but I was hoping there would be at least a few other blooms that would be open. The garden did not disappoint.

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I didn’t think to look at the name of this cactus and have forgotten the names of most of these pictured here. However, it does resemble the Argentine Giant that I posted a pic of earlier in the week and as a featured pic of this post.

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There were lots of Saguaro blooms.

 

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And a Prickly Pear bloom that was late to the party.

 

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I am not sure what’s happening to this Saguaro but it does allow us to get a closer look at the flowers.

 

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his crested Saguaro (see my post link below for more info on this phenomenon) is going to bloom but we arrived too early for it’s party. Does anyone know why it is sprouting blooms down the arm? I thought Saguaros were supposed to get buds only around the tops of the arms.

 

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I am thankful that these blooms were late to their party. I bet this prickly pear was beautiful when they were all blooming. I saw them last year and it was a beautiful display.

 

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The Yuccas were in full bloom.

 

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The purple prickly pear looks pretty even without flowers.

 

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Look but don’t touch. These flowers had stickers.

 

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I hope you enjoyed my blooming tour this week. Speaking of blooming, the final group of Blooming Quilters from the 2017 New Quilt Blogger’s Hop are getting ready for you to stop by next week. I will post their addresses late Sunday night. However, you still have time to enter this week’s giveaways. See my post here for details.

What I Learned Today:

  1. Constructing a post mostly with pictures takes longer than writing one consisting mostly of words.
  2. Going through 300 pictures of blooming cacti takes a long time.
  3. However, choosing only a few of the pics to show here takes a longer time.
  4. Cactus blooms come in all sizes, shapes, and colors—kind of like people.
  5. Some cactus blooms are soft and beautiful and others are beautiful but have stickers—kind of like people.

Question: What season of the year do you like? Now you know my answer, what’s yours?

Linking to LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for her I Like Thursday party.

Catch my other “I Like” posts here.

#3 Tu-Na Eats: Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

#2. Tu-Na Quilts: I Like to Shop at Thrift Stores 

#1. Tu-Na Travels: I Like the Saguaro Cactus Discover some interesting facts about the Saguaro and the crested Saguaro.

25 thoughts on “Tu-Na Travels: Ahhh! Springtime in the Desert”

  2. kathy70

    I really like the botanical garden in Phoenix and you captured some beautiful blooms. I can’t pick one season, that’s like asking which is your favorite child, or quilt. They all have beauty but each season in it’s own unique style.

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      1. kathy70

        I have been luck enough to visit Arizona a few times when friends were living there and we did go to the Botanical Gardens. The gardens are one of my favorite places when I visit a new city, you can learn so much about the area there. Right now I am enjoying spring in the Chicago area so I understand what it means to be done with winter. HA! Have a great day.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats Post author

        We saw the Chihuly glass exhibit at the Garfield Park Conservatory years ago. It was beautiful. When the kids were little, we bought season passes to zoos, science, and art museums and took them to lots of those places. Although I think Garfield was free.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Little Quiltsong

    Thank you for sharing! I always marvel at all these different types of blooms. Each has its own beauty!

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  7. Tami Von Zalez

    Fall is my favorite season. You can’t beat the experience of seeing a desert in bloom though. I lived in Arizona for many years. I love the smell of the desert after a monsoon.

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  9. Pat Evans

    Your tour of the garden was beautiful. I have a winter-hardy yellow prickly pear that my husband is fascinated with. I have to keep chopping it back to keep it in bounds.
    I saw the Chihuly exhibit at the Denver Botanic Garden a feww years ago. It was wonderful. I had to keep reminding myself to look at the flowers because the glass sculptures were mesmerizing.
    Pat

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  10. Jocelyn Hayes Thurston

    Thanks for this post featuring a plant completely unfamiliar to me except in stores! Imagine all those beautiful blooms…nature on this planet is really wonderful. I also enjoyed your list of what you learned this week. Interesting and I have noticed some of the same things.

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    1. Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats Post author

      The desert is really a beautiful place when the cacti bloom. Check out my posts in December showing the cacti and desert yards all dressed up for Christmas and then the cold, snowy plains of North Dakota from Christmas thru New Year’s Day for more great nature displays.

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  11. soma @ whimsandfancies.com

    When we lived in southern California, a day in the desert during springtime was one of our favourite activities. Your photos are beautiful! Your comment about 300 photos and choosing just a few made me laugh. I am the same way 🙂

    -Soma

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  12. Pingback: Tu-Na Quilts: On Pins and Needles | Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

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