April is national poem writing month ...

 OK, so I'm not a poet
At least I know it.
~ L

When I was in college, one of my professors seemed to have a thing for Gertrude Stein.  She of a rose is a rose is a rose fame ...

In the desert, a rose is not a rose when it is attached to either a prickly pear cactus (see above and to the side) or a hedge hog (see below and below to the side).

Frankly they don't smell all that sweet, but they sure do attract the bugs and the bees!

Welcome to the desert, please leave your ice on the cactus of your choice before you go home!

do you see what I see?

I see way too many shadows and a picture slightly out of focus.

The blooms are an indication that there has been enough water to support flowering and seeding for the next cycle.

The African Sumac (small weed like thing) indicates that it needs to be pulled before it becomes a total tree.

The spines on each of the cacti are all fishhooks, or play them on TV.  But if necessary, can be used as needles or pins (and were used that way, once).

Most importantly - I see spring!

when do you need to water a cactus?

The woman who lived next door to my grandmother, Esther, thought of my dad and uncle as family, so she always watched the weather wherever her two boys lived so she could have an idea of how they were.

When my parents settled in the desert, she and her husband bought a couple of small cactus gardens and became really and truly religious about watering based on our weather report.  If the Sonoran desert got rain, the garden got extra water.  When we went months at a time with no moisture, she'd sneak a little water to her garden, but not much.

I was always amazed at how well her little potted garden did.  It survived for about fifteen years.

So when do you water a cactus?  You can either do it like Esther and Joe - or if it is a potted cactus, give it an ice cube about once a week.  The water goes deep to the roots slowly.