bit of green in the desert

  The Taj-mahl Greenhouse!
I was told that what I wanted would blow over and make too much noise. So I now have a very nice warm place to keep my fragile plants.  Maybe I can enjoy Angel Trumpets in bloom this winter as well as my orchids.  When the wind is howling and cold as ice cubes I can be snug and warm and enjoying a little bit of blooms, fragrance and greenry this winter.  I even had my weather vane put up!

Desert in bloom

These are some more of the desert blooming flowers we have seen this summer.

The Desert is blooming!

This is a very tiny flower.
The flower is about 1/4 of an inch across!
It would make a great ground cover.

Cactus in bloom.
The cactus is starting to bloom.
I can not wait until the vivid pink ones are blooming!

These flowers seem to pop-up and bloom over night!

I don't know what these are but they are the first ones to bloom.  I love how dainty they are.

Every one of these white flowering bushes command your attention!

These yellow bushes remind me of daisies!

This is a Sego Lily.  The bulbs are only eatable in the spring.  They helped the Mormon Pioneers avoid starvation!

These are tiny yellow daisies.  They seem to carpet the sand.  They are smaller than a penny and stand about 1/4 inch above the ground.  I love how they look!

Mormon Tea or Ephedra in bloom.

Desert Four o'clocks.
They open in the afternoon and are very dainty.
They really stand out with their lavender color.

Someone left their brand on two rocks on a lazy day  May 7, 1938.
72 years ago!
Still clear and readable today.
I am sure it took some work as these are hard volcanic rocks!

 

I love this time of the year to see the desert blooming.  Still waiting for the Indian Paint Brushes and desert marigold's among others!

Arizona Strip

                                                                                      On the road South of Hurricane.  Not sure where the road goes.  Very vast and today the colors are absolutely beautiful! Huge canyons all around us.  The signs say we are on the Temple Road. Huge canyons with no noticeable access.  I do not like going where there are no roads.  The environment here is so very fragile. We saw a lot of wash outs.  We were very careful crossing washes and gullies.  It was very cloudy but no rain.

Ash Creek April 20, 2010

Spring Run-off
 This is our normally small clear running Ash Creek.  In the summer there is NO water!

Kolob Finger Canyons

It was a beautiful morning so we headed out. The road to Oak Grove was barricaded and closed, so we headed up the freeway. Kolob Canyons looked a little foreboding and cloudy and stormy but we decided what the heck. It was snowing a little and the wind was blowing but what a beautiful day! What do you think?

A little wildlife

I was walking down a little gully and saw this snake at my feet. It was as thin as pencil and about 12 inches long. It was fast! It was gone before I could get the camera out. It was hiding under an old fence post. It was just after a rain.
The snake is so cool! I did some research on enaturalist.com. This is a variable sand snake.
It usually lives under the sand and eats bugs, cockroaches and scorpions.
You can see photos and read more about this beautiful snake here:
http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Snakes-Subpages/h-c-stramineus.html








































This lizard was all spotted...never seen one like this before! Every day brings something new on the desert!