Allophile

Green giants...to green onions...

I'd read that saguaros usually bloom in May and June, but the last few days,

we've been noticing precocious 'bouquets' of the surreal flowers on the green giants.

This morning, driving on the NE edge of town, we saw this:

The hole in the cactus on the right is probably a Gila woodpecker hole,

like this one we saw in our neighborhood:

Notice the weird bulbous things on the top--those are the flowers-to-be.

And here are some more flowers-that-are:

Just a few days ago, the first prickly-pears began blooming in front of where we live:

And down the street, these deep-purple prickly-pear pads are sprouting lemony-blossoms:

Out in the desert, some of the green nopales have the same color flowers...

...although out of some of the pads, yellow and peach flowers are sprouting:

The spiky chollas are blooming, too--like these rosé ones:

Closer to home, the lantana are striking in their tiny details...
...including the variety of colors that can appear in just one half-dollar-sized cluster:

And, finally, the prosaic green onion...when planted and left to grow, even in a patio pot, they end up sending up shoots of tiny lilies: