The Last Two Weeks Of Spring...

Another flower from my grizzly prickly pear. I was looking for one to photograph with a bud that hadn’t yet bloomed. Instead, I ended up with the remnants of a flower that had blossomed yesterday. In a way, it’s better so you can get a better sense of the life cycle of a cactus flower. The shriveled petals will eventually fall off and the green part on which they bloomed will turn red. That section becomes the fruit of the cactus. It’s what’s used to make things like prickly pear candy, jelly, syrup, sauces and loads of other things. Around here restaurants routinely offer prickly pear iced tea and prickly pear salad dressing. It’s all quite good.

I blipped the larger view of this particular cactus the other day. It’s profusely producing flowers now. I counted over three dozen this morning. I’m going to look around for other species in the neighborhood. The only other prickly pear species in my yard is called a Santa Rita. The more distressed it is, the more purple-ish the pads are. It’s just beginning to get some buds. The flowers will be even smaller and a delicate yellow.
Most prickly pear species will be mostly done flowering by May.

We’ve entered what is traditionally the driest part of the year (April-June). The humidity has been in the single digits. Very dry conditions may sound nice but it’s really tough on your eyes, nose, mouth and throat. Wildfire season has also officially begun. Let’s hope that we get some unexpected rain before too long.