Just over a week ago I spent a wonderful morning exploring the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. I headed out a day early for the conference I was attending just so I could visit the Desert Botanical Garden. I’d been there a few times before so knew I was in for a treat – I just didn’t know how wonderful a day it would turn out to be.
I was fortunate to meet Jeff Stemshorn, a local photographer, as I entered the gardens. We talked for a few minutes and headed off in separate directions. I mentioned that I was hoping to photograph some cactus in bloom since I’ve never seen any blooming before. Several times over the next few hours, Jeff took time to come find me and show me some of the flowering cactuses he had spotted. So thanks to Jeff, I was able to photograph several wonderful flowering cactuses.
First is a pair of flowering white echinopsis cactus blossoms
(c) 2010 Patty Hankins
A lovely echinopsis thelonga blossom
(c) 2010 Patty Hankins
An unknown variety of flowering cactus
(c) 2010 Patty Hankins
A mammillaria cactus – Thanks to Gene Almendinger for the correct identification of this one
And finally a Lady Finger Cactus
(c) 2010 Patty Hankins
I’ll be back in Arizona in December and hope to spend more time at the Desert Botanical Garden. I can’t wait to see what I find in bloom at that time of year.