Desert Flowers

Such a beautiful day for a cruise through the desert; it was sunny and hot and fearing the snakes would be out we didn't venture too far off the beaten path.  Wes drove out US 95 towards the Proving Grounds, a military base, east to Senator's Wash and the Imperial Dam.  Bill and I directed Wes to Senator's wash area as we have Albertan friends, Larry and Sheila, who have boondocked this area for the past 16 plus years.  Here is where we found several strawberry cacti in bloom with their delicate bright pink flowers, nestled low and close to the desert floor. They like to grow close to rocks, I guess for warmth and perhaps any chance of moisture.

The ocotillo were also in bloom with their orange plumes high up the stalk,  Luckily we were able to find a couple of lower poker like flowers to zoom in on.  The "stalks" are very green with very delicate green leaves that at a distance look brown and dead until one takes a much closer look.  Many bees were a-buzzing around these mutiples of flowers, almost in a frenzy to get the sweetness before the next one took it from them.

Nini (Dorene) is seen here, taking her picture of this beauty of an ocotillo, difficult to do as the breezes were moving the stalks quite a bit; several shots needed to be taken.

This is a close-up of the flower, a bright firey orange colour of about 10-12 inches in length.  Very nice.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of this beautiful, magenta bougainvilla; these grow everywhere in the Yuma area and are very bright and colourful against adobe fences and homes, probably a good contrast to the sand of the desert.  Wherever there is water, plants grow and grow well.  Stay tuned for the date palms and the agriculture of Yuma!