Prickly

 The saguaros were just starting to bloom in Arizona last week...

Bee By

 

The saguaros are beginning to bloom in Arizona...

And I just happened to capture this bee (unbeknownst to me) at the very top of this 25-foot tall cactus.

Along the (Other) Way

 

102 degrees...

An airplane on the road...

Saguaro, Sa-WOW-ro

 

When you are in Arizona visiting family and you notice that all of the saguaros around town are blooming, what do you do? You drive south to Saguaro National Park! Absolutely astonishingly beautiful! It was magical!

The flowers open at night and are pollinated by bats, and they close the next day (they are also pollinated during that time by bees and other insects). They only exist for 24 hours!

This is, I think, an ironwood tree? So pretty, so ephemeral.

And other lovely blooms...

I'm not sure what this is...

Ocotillo loveliness.