Friday Shoot Out

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The high desert is truly an amazing place. Where winter seemingly pulls it's blanket over any vegetation, leaving it to appear dead or dying, the spring rolls across the desert spreading wildflowers in it's path.

One of the interesting things about plants in this area, is that although they are quite beautiful,

they are not just a pretty face!

Can you see the stickers on the stem??? And how about this?

A pretty little mesquite tree, trimmed up to a canopy. Feathery looking on the outside...
Look at the thorns on the inside!!! These trees look like dead sticks all winter, and they say not to plant anything until the Mesquites start to leaf. They know when winter is over.

Here are a few other stickery things that just pop up on their own...

A Cholla, it gets quite hairy in the summer, and believe it or not, the birds like to nest in them!

A pretty thistle of some kind...

Plus stickers!

This is my neighbor's yard across the street. She spends emmense amounts of time to keep it looking beautiful, but all those purple flowers covering the gravel? Blew in, and kept spreading their seeds over the years. Here's a close up of those flowers.

Just popping up between the rocks.

This is a house down the street that has a mesquite, desert willow, prickly pear, barrel cactus, and a desert spoon.
A prickly pear in bloom. The javelina love these!

We have quite the family of these in the neighborhood, but luckily don't see them very often. They can do some real damage to the dogs!


And lastly, what almost every garden in our town has at least one of...




a fire ant hole! Note how bare the ground is around it. Nothing will grow there.
I can't wait to share pictures once monsoon starts. The desert becomes so green and lush, you won't believe it's the same place!