On the Road for CactusPhotoGraphics.com

We traveled recently to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Saguaro National Park to get cactus flower photos for our website, www.cactusphotographics.com. It was to be an early Spring (at least compared to our northern town of Jerome, AZ) when the desert wildflowers were in bloom and, hopefully, cactus flowers, as well.

Aside from the constant helicopter activity of the U.S. Border Patrol at Organ Pipe, our only minor ignorance was the discovery that cactus flowers bloom at different times and that the Hedgehog Cactus and Ocotillo flowers were the only cactus flowers out.

A helpful volunteer at Saguaro National Park explained to us that cacti such as Barrel Cactus set blossoms for the summer monsoons, blooming in August, while others such as Prickly Pear Cactus, set blooms for the winter rains and bloom in mid- to late April. Water in the soil, she explained, dissolves the seed coat and allows germination.

Fortunately, wildflowers such as the Mexican Goldpoppy had made their spectacular appearance and were joined by Brittle Bush along the roadside, valleys and slopes. We had hoped, however, for prickly pear and barrel cactus blooms at Organ Pipe but it didn't happen until we traveled to Saguaro National Park a couple of weeks later and still later to the Superstition Wilderness Area adjacent to Apache Junction.

Some results of this trip can be seen at www.cactusphotographics.com

While we humans jump on a couch, bed, or floor to reproduce, the less agile flora depend on water, and very mobile insects, specialized bees, bats, and butterflies, adapting to the environment and coordinating reproduction to the most opportune time.

The Wisdom of Spines and Flowers

You wonder where they come from...the disparate elements of flowers and spines.

Alarmed queries often accompany a proposed visit to the desert. "Aren't you afraid of the snakes?" "What if you're pricked by a cactus?" "Are there scorpions?" All have spines...

The answer is usually a shrug or "So what?" Dangers are usually benign...at least in the initial stages of a journey.

The desert is quiet except for the hum of bees - which have spines of their own. And the flowers endure, living in tranquility with all the spines. It is a wondrous harmony of disparate elements.

Cactus leaves have evolved into protective, water conserving spines...and the bees ensure the flowers will appear next year.

Except for the occasional javelina or desert tortoise that grabs a bite of prickly pear, spines ensure that cactus flowers survive as the "least molested" of blossoms.

The desert, however, isn't generous to those who won't adapt to its regimen of lean necessity.

It discovered long ago that only occasional water is necessary -- and hums along with its bees and flowers and spines in oft hidden tranquility.

It seems to know...if we won't adapt, if we lack an instinct for economy, we'll vanish.

The flowers will surely be here, but we won't see them.

Water Use Will Change...Like It or Not

Some people just don’t get it!

They seem to believe that water originates at the tap and hold the limited view that, since grass has been planted, it's a great idea to water it.

Or, if a hot-tub is available, it's quite OK to fill it...constantly...letting the tub's overflow drain handle the excess.

I have some otherwise intelligent neighbors who dismiss talk of water shortages in this arid region with the reminder that “our water comes from a spring and, anyway, the town charges families equally, whether we use it or not.”

Fortunately, this will change.

The Town of Jerome is in the process of installing water meters that will enable it to bill residents on usage.

A note on the Jerome Post Office bulletin board (it’s a small town, you know) proclaims that “Grapes are ripe at Xxxxx's. Come grab a bunch.”

Xxxxx waters his grapes twice a day with no thought of depleting the aquifer that supplies his preoccupation. We'll see if a few grapes are worth the high water bills. Realistically, however, if water from this spring doesn't flow into a storage tank, it runs down Mingus Mountain into Bitter Creek and ultimately into the Verde River.

The poor Verde -- It needs all the input it can get. As a newbie out here I was truly appalled at the diversionary dams that channel thousands of gallons-per-hour through open ditches. Signs posted by the Cottonwood Ditch Assn. proclaim, "NO Trespassing." (The photo that heads this blog was taken past this sign.)

The Northeast is experiencing the same poor water management. My friend, a competitive paddler, is lamenting the destruction of his training environment -- Akron, Ohio’s, East Branch Reservoir.

East or West, it’s all the same. Reservoirs, established by dammed rivers, are not an efficient place to store water. Aquifers, also, disappear with over-use and poor water management.

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