Daytime moon over the desert

A stand of Saguaro under a blue sky, with the moon above

Storm coming

Saguaro under a threatening sky at the foot of the MacDowell Mountains

Survivor

Strange that I should return to this blog on Dec. 25, then the very next day notice a cactus growing on a wall in Brookline, Mass. Here it is. I see cactus growing in the Boston area every now and then, but it's fun to spot one in the snow. This looks a lot like one Marjorie gave me as a Christmas gift. She said that it can survive in the cold but can't tolerate an ice storm, so I'd best keep it in a pot and bring it inside when the weather gets too nasty.

Christmas Cactus

It's been a very long time since I posted here. I ran out of interesting (to me) photos of cactus, and I don't get to cactus country as often as I'd like. However, I thought this would be appropriate for today, and I have a few new photos from Marjorie, Bob and me. Soon I hope to pick up the blog again and perhaps branch out into other areas. Guess I can no longer call it "A Cactus a Day."

Massive

This Saguaro was posted before as an example of a cactus soaking up water after rainfall. I asked Bob to go back and see if it looked different during a dry spell, but, as it happens, he was able to get to it after another rare day of Scottsdale rain. We'll try again, but , in the meantime, compare this photo by Bob on a sunny day with my shot in the rain.

Classic

Looks like the Arizona license plate come to life! Photo by Bob Connolly

Soft & brittle

The springtime bloom on this cactus contrasts with the sunlit barbs surrounding it. Photo by Bob Connolly