Unicorn

Searching for blackbirds
At the marsh
Found instead

Disguised
Among the cattails
A unicorn

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Cattail   Typha latifolia

Pussy Willows

At last they have arrived. Photographers elsewhere have been posting pics of these harbingers of spring for weeks. But they live in warmer climes. Here, snow still lingers in the woods and water-filled ditches have been freezing at night until just recently.

Male flowers appear first.

As they unfold, stalk-like stamens appear which produce pollen. Unlike other catkin-producing plants, such as aspens, the pollen isn’t spread by wind. Instead both male and female flowers produce a strongly-scented nectar that attracts insects.

Willows provide bees, butterflies and flies with a welcome source of food — pollen and nectar — in early spring before other flowering plants have appeared.

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Willow   Salix spp.

Here & Now

A couple of weeks ago it was spring on the desert. Now it’s come to The Great White North and that means snow. Lots of snow.

For more than a week the temperatures have dithered around freezing. Whether that’s 32F or 0C for you, it’s hat-scarf-mitts-coat-and-boots weather for awhile longer.

So far today more than 10 cm have drifted down — that’s 4 inches and then some. The forecast is for more of the same for several days but that will change. Meanwhile I shall enjoy the soft fall of flakes and the muffled world outside my door.

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Mountain ash   Sorbus spp.
White spruce   Picea glauca
Balsam poplar   Populus balsamifera

 

 

Morning Glory

Dawn alights
Sun-dappled
And dew-damp

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Fiddleneck   Amsinckia spp.

Hedgehogs

Some folks don’t get along well with cactus — I think it has something to do with all those spines. 🙂

Right now hedgehog cacti are bursting into colour all over the desert. They sit close to the ground so you can easily peak inside the blossoms. Maybe even spot a pollen-covered desert bee.

 

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Hedgehog cactus   Echinocereus spp.

‘Tis the Season

Hedgehog cactus — one of my favourites— has started to bloom here on the Sonoran Desert.

Early one morning last week we walked up a rocky knoll in the shadow of a mountain and found this delightful bouquet.

Lots of flowers already and more to come.

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Hedgehog cactus   Echinocereus spp.

I’ve Got My Eyes on You

Scrunched over photographing this fairy duster I suddenly realized it was watching me. One of the long seed pods had opened, the two halves curled back and — voila! — formed a pair of glasses.

Plants with a sense of humour? Love it!

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Fairy duster   Calliandra eriophylla

Reclamation

Beneath the pile of rusting bedsprings
Green forces are at work
Taking back the desert
One flower at a time.

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Filaree/Redstem stork’s bill   Erodium cicutarium

M&M

A little manure. A little moisture. Voila! Stuff grows, even on the desert.

Thanks to the mule deer for adding the fertilizer. 🙂

Desert Ow-l

Hoo-hoo might this be?

I caught only a glimpse of the “eyes” as I passed but it stopped me mid-step. Then I realized they were scars where two cholla (CHOY-uh) “buds” — actually stem joints — had fallen off.

Chainfruit cholla — so named for the clusters of fruit that hang down — is common on the Sonoran Desert. It’s also known as jumping cholla. For good reason.

The stem buds are so loosely attached they come loose at the slightest touch and you quickly find yourself wearing them. Not good. Best way to remove them is to place a comb between you and the hitchhikers and quickly flip it away.

Alert: If the spines are in your skin this is gonna feel like tooth extraction without freezing. Been there. Done that. Only once.

P.S. Tired of hiking with the same folks? Just aim the cholla buds in their direction. That should solve the problem.

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Chainfruit cholla   Cylindropuntia fulgida