I love the color of the rock formations, so much like the glowing chocolate of Shyla.
When we explore the desert world more closely, we find beautiful flowers in the nooks and crannies between the rocks. This is one my favorites - the Claret Cactus - which is growing in a dirt spot between the rocks.
Despite severe drought in the Utah desert, the Claret Cacti were blooming strongly!
The blooms' red against the blue sky with cacti spines all around them caught my eye many times.
In some areas that we visited, the paintbrush were also in full bloom.
Some flowers, in the "4 O'Clock" family, open their blossoms late in the day and through the night. This prevents them from losing too much water to evaporation in the hot sun. This one looks very closed at mid-day.
But each of those white balls becomes a flower at night when it opens.
The flashy purple member of that family opens its flowers wide late in the afternoon.
Every time we visit the desert, I am awed to find these plants so strong in such a tough environment. It looks so dramatically tough - but they manage to bloom even in drought years.
the cacti flowers are beautiful.... and they are a little like a miracle... I always wonder that such a prickly cactus-guy can produceso much beauty...
ReplyDeleteoooooooooooooh - they are just gorgeous and so vibrant!
ReplyDeleteLove the desert flowers. There are lots of flowers in Utah this year, kinda like the desert southwest is having.
ReplyDeleteAhhh nice!! You are making us want to take a trip to the desert
ReplyDeleteLily & Edward
Wow....just wow!! What a wonderful collection of desert flowers!!
ReplyDeleteSmileys!
Bilbo, Jakey & Arty
I enjoyed learning about flowers that open late in the day. Such beautiful photos, as always!
ReplyDeleteThese cacti shots are really spectacular. Life flourishes, even in the desert.
ReplyDeleteThose flowers sure are pretty and so is Shyla!
ReplyDeleteIt is inspiring to find beauty in the middle of the desert.
ReplyDeleteMassive rocks, huge ones balancing on others, and then the flowers, growing in what we would think so inhospitable to any plant life. 4 o'clocks, a new term for me down here, how nature compensates for the climates is remarkable, a true story of survival.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that some bloom late in the day and at night!
ReplyDeletehugs
Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel
Such beautiful photos. Love the claret flowers!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blooms for sure. And your photos are amazing as always. We especially are impressed with those claret cacti flowers.
ReplyDeleteThose are such gorgeous blooms! I love the intense color in the cactus blooms!
ReplyDeleteKZK
It is amazing what beauty the desert can produce. If I tried to plant flowers under those conditions in my yard, I'd get nothing! LOL
ReplyDeleteJan, Wag 'n Woof Pets
We could learn a lot from those flowers if we stop and think. Lovely photographs.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how flowers can grow in such a barren land.
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