The Tucson Botanical Garden is known for their Butterfly Garden but has much more to offer. Although it is not large, its has an excellent collection of cactus and succulents and many interesting presentations.
I found this cactus pyramid to be an excellent way to present these desert beauties.
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Cactus Pyramid
Years ago we attended a nature walk through the desert near Scottsdale Arizona. Our guide pointed to one of these cactus and called it the cowboys best friend. The needles could be used as emergency sutures or to sew up torn jeans or boots. It is a variety of Cholla cactus and they are plentiful in the Sonora Desert of the southwestern United States and Mexico.
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Cowboy’s Best Friend
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which covers large parts of the Southwestern United States in Arizona and California and of Northwestern Mexico including parts of Baja California. Inside the desert there are a number of National Parks including Saguaro National Park which is near Tucson Arizona. Of course one of the reasons for the parks name is dozens of small forests of Saguaro cactus.
There are miles of trails and hikes available for all levels and the winter weather in the low 70’s with crystal clear skies was perfect.
Saguaro National Park
The estate originally built by Walter Annenberg in 1966 was used as a winter residence by the ambassador and his wife. Sunnylands Center has since been used by many famous people and where President Obama recently escaped for a few days after finishing his term.
The gardens are stunning and free to the public. Tickets can be purchased to tour The Residence when it is not in use.
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Sunnylands Center and Gardens
I learned years ago, and the hard way to not get too close to these beauties. There are a number of Cholla cactus all seemingly have needles on springs. If you get to close the needles seem to to wind up on you even if you don’t touch the plant. These opuntia type cactus is primarily found in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.
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Jumping Cholla
Visiting the Phipps Conservatory of Pittsburgh is nice any time of year but I like it best in the dead of winter. When your skin is dry and you are cold and chilly it is wonderful to spend an hour or two in warm humidity smelling the blooms of orchids and other fragrant flowers. It’s almost as good as a spa treatment. I have no idea what the actual name is of this orchid but it brought me joy in the cold of winter so to me it is Winter Joy.
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Winter Joy
I think the best time of year to visit a conservatory is in the dead of Winter. It’s warm and humid inside and loaded with the scent of fresh flowers and orchids in bloom. In Pittsburgh we have one of the best conservatories in the world. The Phipps Conservatory has fourteen different green house rooms connected with walkways. Waterfalls, glass sculptures and benches are scattered throughout and volunteers and employees are there to answer your questions while they maintain the beauty of the environment.
The Bonsai room has some spectacular specimens that have been in training since the 1950’s and the new education center is one of the most advanced green buildings in the United States. All the environments are computer controlled and react to wind,humidity and temperature providing a perfect environment for the flora.
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The Phipps Conservatory
When we moved off the mountain last year we had to leave our Christmas Cactus behind. So we had to acquire a new one which rewarded us with a single but beautiful bloom.
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Christmas Cactus
We have a variety of glass bricks in our new house. They provide a variety of dramatic lighting effects and interesting backgrounds and light sources for still life photography.
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Studies in Glass Brick #1
Here I am at Joshua Tree National Monument. It was really hot and I was feeling kind of dehydrated. See other images from Joshua Tree at my commercial gallery.
Self Portrait
Imagery Photography 