cactus | Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog

Early One Morning in Phoenix

by hankinslawrenceimages | Oct 1, 2012 | Arizona, Flowers, Photo Locations

In August I spent a week at a conference in Phoenix, Arizona. I didn’t get much photography time while I was there – conference ran all day into the evening most days – and it was ridiculously hot.

But I did head out early one morning to see what I could find – and I found some wonderful desert plants to photography.

First was a night blooming cereus cactus – cereus peruvianus. Native to South America, these cactuses can grow to 10 feet tall. The flowers bloom only for one night.

I also photographed some Red Bird of Paradise – caesalpinia pulcherrima – flowers. A member of the pea family, these beautiful red, yellow and orange flowering plants can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the western hemisphere.

I’ve always loved the patterns created by the needles of the barrel cactus. I had fun photographing this one from above.

And finally – the fruit of a prickly pear cactus.

I think it was definitely worth getting up and heading out to photograph that morning! What do you think?

A Quick Visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix

by hankinslawrenceimages | Dec 13, 2010 | Flowers

I’ve just returned from a wonderful trip to Arizona. I attended a photograph workshop run by Alain and Natalie Briot focusing on Route 66. While in Arizona, I also spent some time at the Grand Canyon with Bill, and managed to fit in a quick visit to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix on my first day of the trip. I”ll be posting photos from the trip over the next few weeks – I used a Graflex Crown Graphic and Fuji Instant Film for many of my photos along Route 66 so it may be a while before I get them scanned and posted.

In the meantime, here are some photos I took at the Desert Botanical Garden. I’d had the chance to visit the garden in August and had really enjoyed photographing there. So I was really glad to get a chance to visit again earlier this month.

First are closeups of two different cactuses.

I did photograph one member of the aster family – a Chocolate Flower (Berlandiera lyrata). I really like the center of this blossom – very different from other members of the aster family I’ve photographed.

And finally several members of the aloe family were in bloom. When I visited the Desert Botanical Garden in August, one of the staff mentioned that the aloe would be blooming in December, so I made a point of spending some time photographing them. One of the things I enjoyed the most about photographing the aloe were all the hummingbirds who were flying around and visiting the aloe plants. They were so much fun to watch!

I’m not sure when I’ll next get back to Phoenix – but I do know that I will be sure to visit the Desert Botanical Garden while I”m there. If you are in Phoenix, I really recommend visiting there – it’s a wonderful garden to visit and very photographer friendly 🙂

Flowering Cactuses at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix

by hankinslawrenceimages | Aug 17, 2010 | Flowers, Photo Locations

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

A lovely echinopsis thelonga blossom

An unknown variety of flowering cactus

A mammillaria cactus – Thanks to Gene Almendinger for the correct identification of this one

And finally a Lady Finger Cactus

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.