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!

The next day at Zion's

You can really see the water at the emerald pools today. We thought that the next day would be even better but most of the water had dried up.
We went through the tunnel to the top of Zions and saw 2 California Condors. They spread their wings and went hopping across the rocks. Really cool to see!
We drove around a corner and there were these Mountain sheep trekking down the road. As soon as they saw us they headed up the mountian. What a rare treat to see!














The Man in the Mountain had his eye open and it appeared he was watching us. There was a small avalanche that had closed the road at Checker Board Mesa but it wasn't too big and the road was soon open.
You never know what you will see when you drive up Zion's.

Rainy day at Zion's

Since we live in a desert area and waterfalls are rare, and it had been raining for a while, we decided that we should go to Zion's and see if there were any waterfalls. It was foggy and rainy, with some snow flurries. Perfect day to be at Zions. The river was running fuller than normal as we enter the canyon. (You can click on the picture to see it better!)

There was a waterfall coming over the cliff. Not really big, but none the less, a waterfall!
The Court of the Patriarchs was all foggy and mysterious!
This trickle was just bouncing down the cliff.
This waterfall appears to be coming right out of the middle of the cliff. There are two waterfalls at the Weeping Rock. There is never this much water here.
A closer view of the Weeping Rock area.
Wild Turkeys!!!!
A waterfall along the drive
The waterfall at the entrance to the Temple Sinawava. those are raindrops...not orbs!
Weeping Rock never has this much water flowing
A water fall near the Emerald Pools and in the middle two more
This water came from the middle of a cliff
The man in the mountain was watching us! A truly a magical day. Nothing is ever the same at Zions. The weather, the sunlight, the time of the year, changes the way you see things in Zions. On days like this there are very few people in the park. We even saw some brave souls trying to take the trail to Angel's Landing...at the top it is 1500 feet straight down. I don't think I will ever see that view except in pictures!