Tendrils

Blooming Saguaro

This East Coast gal has learned a lot about the states of New Mexico and Arizona. One of the things I’ve learned about in my many many trips out there is, this is a Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) and it is only native to southern Arizona and western Sonora, Mexico (old Mexico – not New Mexico). No wild specimens of Saguaro have been found in Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, or in northern Arizona.

But the biggest surprise to me is that these intriguing cacti BLOOM! In the picture above the flowers are a bit hard to see, but look closely and you’ll see flowers and buds on the top of each of the arms. Blooming in May.

And here a closeup of the flowers which are pollinated by insects, birds and bats. What an amazing thing to discover.

After I figure out all the plants here in Virginia, I’ll have to go back out to the Southwest and investigate the plants (and animals) out there.

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Brenda Clements Jones

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6 responses to “Blooming Saguaro”

  1. Ahhhhh, the Saguaros in bloom! I can feel and smell the Sonoran air just looking at your beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing!

    • Peige! What a wonderful surprise to hear from you! Kevin lived in Tucson for six years and I LOVED to go out there to visit him. Now he just lives an hour south of us in Batesville, Virginia.

      So glad to realize that you read my posts!

      Sending many hugs!
      Bren

    • Hi Diane,

      My son lived in Tucson, for six years so I was able to visit out there often. Saguaro National Park is just outside Tucson with one part of it to the east and the other part on the west side. Lots of Saguaro, as well as many other wonderful things! I adore the Southwest.

      It’s so nice to have my blog up and running again. What a stressful time! Thank you so much for reading my posts and chatting with me about them!
      Bren

      • My husband and I will definitely check this area out on our next trip to Colorado. My son still lives in Denver. I lived in Colorado for 36 years and decided it was time to return to Georgia when I retired. I love the mountains of north Georgia where we decided to settle.

        • Ah, there’s no place like home Diane! Georgia must be YOUR PLACE! I was born in DC and spent the first few months of my life there in the city, then moved to Prince George’s County, Maryland, which is just outside DC. When we got married we moved out to New Mexico where my husband was born and raised, and he was going to school at New Mexico State University. We decided to return to Maryland where he could attend the Univ of Maryland and there were we could both get jobs at Goddard Space Flight Center. After he got his degree from Md. we moved to the other side of DC in Arlington Va. After retiring we moved to central Va and the mountains. Love it here! Whew! There’s my life history!

          Thanks so much Diane for reading my posts, and I love hearing from you!
          Bren