A Promise Of Things To Come!

We got back to Tucson safely last night after our latest stay at "Ketelsen East".  It is always fun to see little changes while we're gone, especially during the monsoon season where a little rain can generate foot-high weeds, or winds can leave a couple inches of mesquite seed pods in the front yard from our neighbor's tree.  Turns out it didn't rain much in our absence, though we noticed one change...  Our cereus cacti on the east side of the house seems to enjoy a dual flowering season, and it is lined up to reward us in a few days with some new blooms.  This one plant (of 6) has 9 buds on it!  When they erupt in their nearly 7" wide blooms, it will be a spectacular display, likely before the weekend. We've documented these before both for the flower's beauty and also for its pollinators.  Our neighbor's cacti down the street is even more spectacular - when passing it on the way to work this morning, his more-established plant had no fewer than 25 flowers on it, all seemingly blooming last night.  Unfortunately when I saw it they were already on their way closed - should have been more observant when we drove by in the dark at 10:30 last night!