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To live and enjoy every day to its fullest, use my gifts to help others, I travel to wherever passion finds me.

What Will She Paint?

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Friday, July 17, 2009

DESERT BLOOMS

In anticipation of our move tomorrow and having to change internet providers
(which means I may not nave internet for a week :( ),
I'll post some of the desert blooms.
We found them in the gardens of the Huntington Library
in their desert section in Feb. this year. Some cacti
were an impressive 10 feet tall.


Living in Holland I pictured the desert, like the Sahara desert: flowing hills of sand,
with here and there a palm. Once when traveling by car from Texas to California,
the desert was a mirage (pun intended!).
So many plants and flowers in the desert I had never seen.
A blooming place in the Spring!




As soon as we saw these three together,
hubby called them The Three Stooges
These ball-form cacti you can buy very tiny,
but you can see on the first pic above how big they may become.



Flowers on The Three Stooges



Isn't this an unusual and pretty one?



If I'm not mistaken this is the flower of the banana. I know the banana tree
in our yard gives white flowers, so this must be a different kind.

27 comments:

S said...

Cool cacti~! Do they really produce flowers? Because the one I had had its flowers stuck onto it with some kind of glue. It must be a lovely library to have a garden like this :O)

Good luck with your move~~!

Sreddy

Dina said...

Cactus is fascinating.
Good luck with your move. Enjoy your new place. Shalom until next time, when you get plugged in again.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Oh I will miss you if you are not connected for a week!! I hope it is sooner!!

I simply love the cacti when they are in bloom. The flower always seem to be so at odd with the huge thorns on it. A wnderful post Jeannette.

Reader Wil said...

Good luck with moving house! It'll be a very busy day for you! The cacti are amazing.

Gaelyn said...

Love the cacti. So many different kinds when I walk thru the desert, which sometimes does appear as a mirage.

Good luck with your move. Where are you going? Tell them to hurry up on the connection. You will be missed.

Irene said...

Good luck with your move. I didn't realize it was happening so soon. I hope to see you back on line soon. you will be missed. By me, for instance.

DUTA said...

Cactus (Sabra fruit as the israelis call it) is my favorite fruit, sweet inside, thorny on the outside.

Lots of Luck with your move tomorrow!

Unknown said...

It always amazed me how beautiful they were n all that sand and dryness. It is something I miss being able to see easily when I was in Texas.

crochet lady said...

Wow, those blooms are so unique and beautiful. I didn't realize the bannana tree had such a striking flower.

Hope all goes well with your move.

Jen

Jeannette StG said...

Sreddy,
Yes, cacti have real flowers, many beautiful ones. The Huntington library was started by a rich family who owned the railroad, back in the old days. I don't know if they also started the gardens. They are like botanical gardens.

Jeannette StG said...

Dina,
Thanks it went well, but Saturday we had the move in 99 degree weather! Needless to say, a lot left being undone LOL (because our helpers aren't used to un-airconditioned buildings:) )

Jeannette StG said...

Thank you Joan, as you can see they left the internet on (at my old house); we came back and my guess is that it will take a week to clean and pack up everything.

Cacti are something new for me, a Northerling - but they are fascinating.

Jeannette StG said...

Reader Wil.
Thank you Wil. The move went well. Actually most of my busyness was before the move, to plan and organize that it would go smooth for the people who would help hubby.
To see cacti in an actual landscape is most unusual.

Jeannette StG said...

Gaelyn,
Yes, I realize that I've only seen the most common cacti:)
Maybe because the appearance of cacti are so different, it's like you're walking in a dream (and of course the heat can play tricks on your eyes!

Jeannette StG said...

Gaely,
PS - I'm only going an hour more South, but since I haven't moved for 15 years, it seems we have accumulated for 3 families instead of one!LOL

Jeannette StG said...

Irene,
Yes, three years ago I felt we should move, and it finally is here! We realized that we're living "to big" and we'll be in trouble in our elderly years if we don't downsize! Now is the time to buy now there are so many foreclosed houses.

We'll be in another (AT&T) provider area, so we left our phone line on longer! Nice to know that I would be missed!

Jeannette StG said...

Duta,
I've seen some cacti in some fruit markets, but I actually never tried to eat them. Also, I didn't know you eat them as fruit! Which kinds are edible?

Thank you, as you can read from the other comments, the move went well!

Jeannette StG said...

Joey,
Yes, you're right, it is a different atmosphere where you see the cactus, where sand, dry weather and heat reigns!

Jeannette StG said...

Jen,
Yes, creation is beautiful, whether it's in the artic or the desert regions! many tropical plants are very beautiful:)

Shaista said...

The cacti are beautiful - and I particularly love the banana flowers which remind me of birds of paradise.
Good luck with your new home - I hope it is full of light and inspiration, just as you are.
Shaista

Jeannette StG said...

Thank you Shaista,
And so are you my friend, full of light and inspiration! That you're making a comment, does that means that you feel better? Hope you read the reason I'm not visiting blogs right now! In a few weeks, I hope everything will be back to "normal!"

neetzy said...

I hope your move went well. I love the cacti photos. I like the the second from the bottom best. It reminds me of the toes of a three-toed sloth.

Jeannette StG said...

Neetzy,
Thank you, Neetzy! How are your paintings of Yosemite coming along?
My move went well, but mydictionaries are still packed - what is a three toed sloth? (an anmial?) there are still some English words I don't know LOL

Silver said...

Love those cacti and read about your challenge in decorating this coming week..

Sounds like a lot of work but the rewards will be sweet!

~Silver

Jeannette StG said...

Hi Silver,
have to say, it took me a while to warm up to the cacti LOL (not literally, that would be too prickly:) ). Thanks for reminding me about the rewards - hope they will come soon!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Jeannette: Neat captures of the cacti, nicely done.

Jeannette StG said...

Fishing guy,
Nice to see you back here! And thanks!