In Phoenix, late winter on the calendar is more like early spring elsewhere. These pictures are from early February through mid-March.
Unless otherwise attributed, photos are mine from a Sony point-and-shoot camera.
Late winter flowering plants
Tag: Arizona Landscapes
More on the Desert Senna
You’ll find details and about Desert Senna with photos from the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists.
Also from: Native Seeds/SEARCH where you can buy seeds.
My pictures are on the post Desert Senna.
While you’re at it, check out Wikipedia. Unfortunately, the top photo looks like Desert Milkweed.
Desert Senna
Phoenix, Arizona | August-September 2022
Recently, my sister identified a common wildflower that is native to the Southwestern desert. It flowers from spring to autumn. It lends color to the summer landscape when almost nothing else blooms.
I’ve seen bees visiting the flowers. There’s not much food here for them during the summer otherwise.
Arizona Poppies are summer flowering as is Bird of Paradise.
I don’t remember what Desert Senna looks like during the winter.
Cows escape from Indian reservation!
On my sunrise walk, I spotted two cows crossing a local town street walking away from a wash (dry riverbed) and then back again into the wash. Groundwater feeds lush greenery in the wash including grass, which the cows were munching on. Most likely they escaped from the nearby Indian reservation about two miles away where they raise cattle.
I only have pictures of one of the cows.
I called 9-1-1 and an officer came right away. He said that he was going to call folks on the reservation.
Although the cows were happily eating grass, I wasn’t going to be eating until I got home about half an hour later. And I wasn’t going to be eating grass.
I feel blessed to have had this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Summer solstice sunrise
June 21, 2021 | Phoenix, Arizona
Summer begins officially today, but here in Phoenix we’re well into summer. We just had a record stretch of eight days of high temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit — the hundred teens. For me, summer began just after Memorial Day — May 31st this year.
Sunrise today was at 5:17 AM Mountain Standard Time. The first picture was taken at about 5:10. The last picture was taken around 5:38.
Time for a glass of iced tea with sugar.
Sunrise over the Four Peaks
April 15, 2021 | Phoenix, Arizona
Astronomical sunrise was at 5:57 AM Mountain Standard Time. (Arizona doesn’t go on daylight savings time.) The sun became visible over the Four Peaks at about 6:11.
Pictures were taken with a point-and-shoot camera without filters or a tripod.
Four Peaks shrouded in snow
Late January 2020 | Phoenix Arizona
Last week it rained on and off in Phoenix for several days. The rain moved east to Four Peaks and turned to snow.
Both pictures were taken not long after sunrise.
Where else do you see palm trees and snow in the same scene?
After the Full Moon
January 29, 2021 | 16 Shvat 5781 | Phoenix, Arizona
Apparently, the Full Moon was yesterday. I couldn’t take a picture because it was heavily overcast. We’ve had rain on and off for a week. (It’s expected to rain this afternoon.) This first picture was taken about 25 minutes before sunrise, which was at 7:25 AM Mountain Standard Time. The second one was from about a half hour earlier. I took these pictures with a point-and-shoot camera with no tripod, as usual.
A new year dawns
Friday, January 1, 2021 | Phoenix, Arizona
New Year’s Day began at midnight, but nothing in nature was noticeable as the day changed from December 31st to January 1st. It’s a social convention.
In contrast, dawn and sunrise are observable. So, I took pictures as the first day of the new year dawned.
May good fortune for the world dawn with the new year.
Happy New Year.
May we celebrate with many cups of hot tea with sugar!
Sunrise at the Winter Solstice
December 21, 2020 | My patio, Phoenix, Arizona
What look like fingers are arms of a saguaro (SWAH ro) cactus.
Hot Tea with Sugar 