APRIL 2013 IN ARIZONA

We've enjoyed the company of friends this April.  Ron (and Barb not pictured) with Cody and Brady visited for several weeks.  Gavin's three day visit was highlighted by him becoming an official RV'er with a new motor home!

OKAY...can you guess WHO are each of 220 dots in this photo might be?

Keep Guessing!  This is filmed at a location just a few miles from our house.

If you guessed a celebration at Sky Dive AZ you were right on!  Last week there were  jumpers from all over the world that joined 220 of their friends to jump out of 10 airplanes all at one time.  They made about 4-5 jumps a day and joined up to make designs in the sky prior to pulling their chutes.

You can only imagine the coordination it takes to get 220 people up in the air and out the doors with precision so they are then back on the ground within a short time...SAFELY!  They are very skilled and very brave :-).

Spring brings a spectacular season of the flowers in the desert.  We are wishing our new Argentine Giant would burst into bloom soon!  The cactus will be spectacular...it will soon have gorgeous white flowers the size of a dinner plate...6"-8" across...where these redish blooms are now.  

(This photo added on April 20th,  two days after the previous photo was taken.)  Note the red blooms on the previous photo.  What a transition today!  About 4 p. m. today those started fluffing off.  By 7 p.m. the blooms were semi-open and by 7:30 pm this photo was taken...blossoms are fully open!  Isn't the desert absolutely gorgeous and amazing?  I understand the blossom may only last for tonight.  This is our first year with an Argentine Giant in our Arizona garden.

The Prices gave us one petal of this Beavertail Prickly Pear about two years ago.  We just stuck it in the ground and look how it has grown and blossomed!

Our humming  bird / butterfly garden is adorned by multiple plants  that are new to us north westerners.  Here is a chocolate flower.  It has an a distinctive chocolate fragrance.  It blooms at night and closes up during the day in the hot sun.

The globe mallow is a perennial with beautiful peach/orange blossoms.  

You can see that the Parry Penstemon really attracts those hummers!  The deep pink flowers on tall spikes are gorgeous. 

The White Evening Primrose blooms only at night and closes up shortly after the warm sun strikes the plant.   It is amazing how each day brings multiple new gorgeous pure white blossoms!

The purple prickly pear in our front garden has many beautiful yellow blooms.  It is unimaginable how such a plant with spikey pins that can be so nasty to the touch provides such an exquisite spring show of beauty!