Cacti in peak spring bloom,
bursting to rival spring flowers.
Citron, ruby, pearl, amethyst.
A bejeweled thorn garden,
with cactus fairies dressed in buds.
Queen Yucca reigns,
while lowly barrel floats cellophane flowers.
Arid desert landscape,
yields burgeoning blooms.
Cheers to you from the flowering desert~
These are very pretty flowers. 🙂
Thank you Ranu & be well my friend~ <3
omg Cindy, I just saw your most recent.. with the colour and bright sunshine… same planet, so different…. =^_^=… we will soon pass into summer…. you due to travel soon?
It is amazing isn’t it, this “same planet, so different” phenomona. I think of this all the time, and yes we have been home for five months now which is a record. Crossing the pond and heading to Spain and Portugal soon. Be well my friend~ <3
Wonderful ! I am into cacti now and they are so “in” at the moment too.
Are they in? I didn’t know. My grandfather had the most amazing cactus garden and I learned to love them from him~
I’m working on one of my own (cacti garden). Yes, definitely “a thing” now – Google it!
I will and good luck with your garden!
I needed this with winter arriving here all over again. Huge hugs and smiles.
I heard about your storms and I am so sorry. Hope the sun shines soon on you Belinda. You deserve sunshine my friend~ <3
Oh wow, that cactus fairy is so cool. Great photos!
Isn’t she cool! You can tell she loves the dress~ 😉
Gorgeous blooms! My favorite is the last photo! Totally awesome! Hugz Cindy! Lisa and Bear
Cactus gardens need the color of flowers to provide contrast to set frame them. I love the splash of red there too. Lovely~
Today I needed that embrace of the beautiful flowers. You are such a gem, thanks for sharing!
If you needed it, and I could provide it, then I am blessed Wendell. Only the very best to you my friend~ <3
My God Cindy… what a beauty! 🙂 🙂
Every garden needs it’s season to shine! So pleased you enjoyed Mirna and cheers to you~
🙂 🙂
Beautiful flowers and great shots !!!
I love very much Cacti and Succulents !
I have some in my yard 🙂
They are so fun to grow and watch bloom. I am happy you have some. They spread too and get big and have babies which is wonderful too!
So beautiful! I love cacti. You really captured them nicely.
Thanks so much and I am very glad you enjoyed!
More amazing beauty! Lovely, Cindy!! 🌵🌺
Awwww, for you my friend, anything. So happy you enjoyed! <3
These are such lovely photos! The cactus fairy is beautiful!
Isn’t she beautiful. She has my kind of designer duds! 😉
She is!
<3
Garden wonders! 🙂
Indeed, gardens soothe the human soul. Happy Spring Bette! <3
Beautiful photos, Cindy, as always! I love the cactus fairy. What a beautiful garden design with cactus plants!
Cactus gardens are always interesting, but in the spring bloom they come alive with beauty. So pleased you see the beauty Lavinia~
gorgeous Cindy
Awww, wish I could give you blooming Yucca flowers. They are everywhere here~
my yucca, just finished………well some of them anyway
So glad you have them! I love the different colors and especially love the purple and whites.
And cheers to you and the flowering desert! Love the cactus fairy!
She is the bestest dressed fairy ever! 😉
Amazing and to think they’re outside. Wow…gorgeous photographs.
Awwww, you are such a good friend. Thank you~
Such marvelous exuberance! Stunning!
If it pleased you Eliza, then I am happy my friend~ <3
I have never seen such a lovely cacti garden, Cindy. Love the female sculpture with cascading plants — very unique!
She is lovely isn’t she and so pleased you enjoyed the gardens Athena!
Lovely, Cindy! Isn’t it amazing that the somewhat ugly cacti can have such gorgeous flowers?
Yes it is, especially with these fearsome thorns protecting the most delicate of flowers~
Once I had a cactus my daughter made me when she was in the second grade. It only bloomed once. I kept it for many years till it finally looked sad.
Oh, sounds like a mother’s love to keep it for so long, sweet and kind of sad too. Time passes~ <3
The colors are so amazing, Cindy. I really liked the Princess and her cacti fairies! This is such a wonderful collection that I had to look 3 times, extra slowly. The final tree-like cactus formation made me feel like this belongs by the “pearly gates.” <3
Your comments touched my heart Robin, but you always do. I am lucky to have friends like you~ <3
Wow amazing color!
I couldn’t include all it. There are oranges and pinks, it is incongruous all together, but very pleasing to the soul. It is the desert spring show!
I never knew they were so colorful
<3
Reblogged this on penpowersong.
My <3 2 U X 2!
So much of beauty in your post 🙂
Makes me happy I posted! Thank you~
Amazing the colours of those cactus flowers.
Leslie
Aren’t they incredible, especially growing from such formidable plants!
I have never seen desert flowers this beautiful, colorful. So very special, Cindy.
A bejeweled thorn garden, wow! Blow me away…. 🙂
You are so thoughtful and such a dear friend Amy. Thank you~
Such a wide variety of beauty that I don’t see. Love the cactus fairy.
Awwww, that makes me happy. Thank you~
Just wonderful Cindy!
Merci beaucoup mon ami~
De Nada!
<3
I love it when the desert blooms. The cactus fairy is stunning 🙂 What a creative idea.
Succulents are being grown in such creative ways, on walls, as topiary, in trellis pockets, fountains. I have seen them on a multi-storied house draping from balcony to balcony, I love the creativity too!
How nice to see in the middle of the April snowstorm we’re having!
I know, I can’t believe your storms. So glad if this warmed you up just a bit!
What an amazing display of different kinds of cactus. This compelled me to search online to find out how many types there really are, and the answer is “about 2,000”! Love the narrative! Thanks for transporting us to this magical land of cactus fairies! 🙂
Whoa! I had no idea! 2000 is incredible Lynn. Thanks for telling me!
Love your desert wonders, Cindy. Living in Northern Canada, this is a wonderful photographic journey for me. 🙂
It is a very different type of beauty isn’t it. Fascinating to know that life florishes in such different ecosystems. I will be in Canada in September. Can’t wait for my date with the grizzlies!
Lovely! Hope you have an amazing visit. 🙂
Thanks much and Happy Thursday! <3
I never knew the desert could grow such beautiful flora.
It is one of the most unusual aspects of the desert and always thrills me to see. Life in harsh conditions.
Yes, wish we could transfer that to mankind – if we can just get past our prejudices…there can be beauty in the harsh conditions …
Love this!
Ah, so glad you do & thank you~
I can’t get over the incredible colors and varieties! And they’re all stunning! 💕🌷
Aren’t they amazing. When I was a kid my grandfather grew many hundreds of cacti that flowered in the most amazing colors. I still have his photos.
What a treasure to have his photos!
These pictures are beautiful! They make me miss Tucson and our cactus garden we had there! I think the beauty of the desert is one of nature’s best kept secrets!!! Thank you for sharing these gems!
I think you are right! Either it speaks to you or not, but it certainly does to me. I love the incongruity of so much vibrant life is such a hostile place.
Yes, I believe there are many people who have no idea how beautiful the desert can be. And a wonderful place to live. We also never experienced so much wild life as in the desert. It is magical!
We are fully on the same page. You should see the photos I got today of Wiley E. Coyote at 11:20 in the morning checking out the kiddie pool we have set up for wildlife watering. He was checking out the pool and the photographer. Love it!
Some amazing colours there Cindy.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
Hugs & be well David!
Such beautiful vivid colors and of course I LOVE that garden fairy! 🙂
She is special isn’t she, like the Snow White of cacti!
Cindy– such vibrant colors– love the succulent lady!! Hope all’s well with you… xo
Visa versa 2UX2 Rhonda & thank U2!
Pingback: Desert Flowers~ | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Cindy Knoke captures the beauty of the desert with these stunning images of blooms that seem to exist on very little.
I wish I could give some big, beautiful yucca blooms Sally! Be well my friend~ <3
They are stunning Cindy.. hugs XX
Stunning!
Muchas gracias!
Absolutely outstanding, Cindy, especially the cactus fairy. —- Suzanne
She is stylin’ isn’t she! She has excellent taste in haberdashery~
Smashing photos Cindy! Those not familiar with the desert often don’t realise the natural beauty that rears her head especially in the summer. I grew up on the edge of the Mojave. Alas, for me, it also holds some memories I prefer to forget. bisous!
Ah yes, the bitter unfortunately mixed in with the sweet. Love to you Lea and hope all is well with you in beautiful France. <3 <3
Perhaps one day I shall see you in Place de Ville, Narbonne for café or rosé… 🙂
Fabulous, Cindy! 🙂
Merci beaucoup mon ami!
Gorgeous, Cindy. I love cacti!
Oh good! Some people don’t appreciate them, so I am glad you do!
Oh my goodness, I LOVE that “statue” with various succulents and flowers growing so naturally in that shape – stunning I reckon and clever
I agree with you! She is exceedingly well dressed, and for haute couture, not at all pricey. My kind of clothes! 😉 😉
😀
Gorgeous.
Thank you Mary~
Isn’t it wonderful that cacti can bring forth such gorgeous flowers? You’ve captured them perfectly Cindy. I love the cacti fairy! Wish I could reach in and grab her for my garden. She is stunning! 😀 ♥
Cacti remind of some people, prickly, but beautiful! 😉 So pleased you enjoyed and cheers to you!
What a wonderful flowering desert! Cacti paradise! 🙂
Cacti, like people, can be both beautiful and prickly! 😉
🙂 🙂 !!!!!
Oh liebe Cindy das sind ja wunderschöne Kaktusse herrliche Fotos einfach nur wunderschön hab einen sonnigen Frühlingstag mit vielen lieben Grüßen Klaus in Freundschaft
Sie sind ein sehr guter Freund Klaus . Ich bin glucklich, Ihnen die Kakteen mogen. Vielen Dank mein lieber Freund Klaus!
it’s a dream…fantastic..have a great day ..and thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures ,dear Cindy
Cactus flower dreaming…… I wonder what Freud would make of this dream! Thanks much Jeanette and cheers to you!
there where is nothing,but a cactus, from one moment to anothercolor,life is appearing ,like an oasis in the dessert 🙂 wish you all the best ,Cindy 🙂
Wow! Fabulous pictures and fabulous flowers, Cindy 🙂
So happy you enjoyed them my friend and Happy Thursday!
<3
Flowers are flowers, wherever, however just beautiful.
YOU have captured them right.
Pats! Pats!! Pats!!!
Shiva
Awww, so nice! Thank you & cheers too~
Wunderschön liebe Grüße und einen schönen Donnerstag Gruß Gislinde
Vielen danke mein lieber Freund Gislinde und Schonen Donnerstag! <3
I love the cactus fairy dressed in buds – awesome!
Isn’t she a charmer! I love her too~
I know all about desert flowers since once I traveled through desert. The pictures are amazing, breathtaking and…
I hope all is well with you dear Cindy, my favorite blogger. Love and hugs.
You are so sweet! Be well my friend and thank you for your kind thoughts. They are much appreciated.
All are beauties.
Mille grazie!
Cindy these desert blossoms are glorious. I long to get back to the southwest. Mega hugs. 😀
So kind and hugs back to you Teagan. I hope you visit soon!
Such beauty, beautifully captured Cindy!
So appreciated Val & be well my friend~
Gorgeous photos! I especially love the lady created with succulents. How amazing!
She wins the years best dressed competition in my book! 😉
Totally awesome! Wonderful colours and designs ☺
Thanks much. I wonder what the wolf child would make of all the prickly plants! 😉
Your photos never disappoint. The fairy is stunning!
Ahhh, so nice and so appreciated!
Fantastic photos, I love them..
Ahhh, I am honored. Thank you Bob~
#5 was really fun but I loved seeing all of them! Feast for my eyes as always.
So kind & so appreciated! Happy Thursday!
And to think some folks believe nothing grows in arid conditions!! These are just spectacular, Cindy — real pieces of art. I can’t decide which I like best, so I’ll just say they’re all amazing!
Awwww, your kind words just made my morning. Thank you Debbie! <3
The cactus fairy is gorgeous 🙂 Beautiful pictures.
Isn’t she a looker! So happy you like her too & cheers to you~
I love the cactus fairy. Now if only she ran a tea shop and danced the fandango. 🙂 Scaramouche. 🙂
Thunderbolt and lightning,
Very, very frightening me.
(Galileo) Galileo.
(Galileo) Galileo,
Galileo Figaro
Magnifico.
Gotta be the best piece of rock music ever.
Oh you silver tongued bloggerist 🙂
Cindy – you always give my days joy and beauty. You live in a beautiful place. Thank you for documenting the different seasons.
You do the same for me Rebecca, and we are going on four years together now. I am lucky. <3 <3
Stunning photos Cindy, and I particularly love the desert fairy!
She is wearing the most gorgeous haute couture ever! My kinda hi-fashion!
Such amazing colors Cindy. I love the lady of the garden. Wow!
Yep, she has it going on style wise doesn’t she!
I love cactus flowers! They are always surprising, delicate and spectacular. They teach us impermanence, for flowering only a day or night…as a sneaky illusive one I own recently proved to me. This shows the importance of enjoying the moments in life while they last. Thankfully we can enjoy them longer now, because of your superb pictures 😉 Thanks for sharing this post.
Ahhhh, what a lovely and profound series of thoughts. Yes, all is impermanent, but beauty remains in our mind’s eye. I also love the juxtaposition of formidable thorns and extraordinarily delicate flowers. Reminds me of people. Love your thinking~
These desert flowers are amazing, Cindy!
There is something symbolic about cacti in bloom, that is quite moving, such beauty arising from such formidable plants.
I’m ‘cacti-vated’ by these amazing shots! ◟(◔ั₀◔ั )◞ ༘♡
I am laughing. You rock my socks off. I am cacti-vated by your made up words. I love making up words more than most other things and you do it so brilliantly! Keep ’em coming, please!
◟(◔ั₀◔ั )◞ ༘♡ :star: ◟(◔ั₀◔ั )◞ ༘♡
Hehehe….great minds think alike!
ﾍ(=￣∇￣)ﾉ
Dear Cindy
Beautiful and stunning photography accompanied by well articulated words. You have such a beautiful blog! I remember what a huge impression your blog first made and how honored I was that you liked my blog-posts.
We have been following each other’s blog for quite some time now. I want to thank you for that. As my blog grew I struggled to give as much in return as I was receiving. I am sorry for that.
Due to this, I am moving my work to this newly created website:
http://whitetreasures.weebly.com/
I am staying on WP without much content shared.
I wish you all the very best♡ ♡.
Love, Isabella
Yes, knowing you has been a joy my friend and it has been years now which is especially lovely. It is very hard in blogging to give back as much as you receive and I know exactly what you mean. Just know though, that you always have brightened my day with every post.
I am heading over to your new site now, and of course, following you with pleasure. Thank Isabella and be well my friend~
Thank you Cindy for your kind and heartwarming words. It is nice of you to check out my new site, thank you. I am hoping to visit your blog from time to time. It is a very uplifting and beautiful place you have created♡ ♡. Hugs, Isabella
I was just at your blog and was most impressed by your talent! Wonderful photos, poems and artistry!
https://gageier.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/lhd95qk7ekh.jpg?w=950
Liebe Cindy wünsche dir ein super sonniges Wochenende Klau in Freundschaft
Frohe Wochenende mein lieber Freund Klaus! <3 <3 <3
Ich wunsche Ihnen einen wunderschonen Fruhling!
The wonders of nature! So beautiful! 🙂
Nothing compares to her beauty does it!
Yep!… 🙂
I love small flowers, In India, a cactus plant gives a fruit called Prickly pears.. its red in color and those who ate it, have testified it to be edible, juicy and sweet
Yes people here eat both the fleshy green part of the cactus and the red bulb. It is coated in breadcrumbs and fried or mixed into salsa in many traditional Mexican dishes. I had no idea you have this plant in India and eat it as well. It is indeed a very small world. Cheers to you and thank you for stopping by~
Some of them look soft and furry. 🙂 I love the dress made with succulent plants!
They can be soft and furry, but it is deceiving, because within the soft fur, lives tiny slivers, that get in your skin and are impossible to see, but quite uncomfortable. Cacti are such interesting plants and I agree with you Maiko, that dress has it going on! Be well my friend~ <3
Your photos are more and more astoundingly beautiful Cindy. And these are totally unique. I have never seen the desert fairy and the shapes and colors are other-worldly.
Awww, thank you Dor. I am enjoying watching your rapid progression with you camera as well. It is quite a bit of fun taking these clicks isn’t it! Hope your foot is better & cheers to you Dor~
Soooooo lovely! Your work is amazing! ~Rita
Ahhh, I am honored. Thank you!
Wow these are beautiful cactus. I especially like the fairy creative.
Yes, she is perfect garden sprite isn’t she! So pleased you like her too~
Anything creative, original and beautiful I enjoy. Reason why you are a pleasure to follow.
Awwww, what a lovely and thoughtful comment. Thank you~ <3
Wow! It’s hard to believe all this beauty and color in such an arid place. The photos are gorgeous! I love the red blooms among all the thorns and that succulent statue is amazing. This was a real treat. Thank you Cindy! <3 xx
Just makes me very happy to make you happy Vashti. Cheers to you my friend and thank you for your thoughtfulness~ <3 <3
So beautiful, Cindy. 🙂
So pleased you think so and thank you!
Ah, “Cactus Flower” strikes again ! The pic’s are beautiful, Cuz. The cactus nymph seems to be everyone’s favorite . .., and mine too. I’ve found prickly pears in Florida and Montana too. They’re everywhere !!!!! 😉
They are, even in India!!! I did not know this!! Cheers to you cuz~
You in my neck of the woods/desert Ms. Cindy?
How wonderful! We live abutting the desert in a semi-desert ecosystem, so we get the cacti and the oak groves. The coyotes and the roadrunnera!
New Mexico? California? I forgot Cindy.
Oh ich mag Kakteen sehr!!! Ich habe selber viele Kakten am Haus, auch Sedume u. Mauerpfeffer-Arten. Danke Cindy für die wunderbaren Bilder. Ernst
Ich war in Norwegen und sah einen großen Gewachshaus mit Kakteen gefullt. Ein Blogger hat mir gesagt, er hat Kakteen in Indien. Und einige Leute haben Kakteen in ihrer deutschen Heimat. Ich denke, es ist wunderbar, dass Kakteen auf der ganzen Welt geschatzt werden. Vielen dank mein lieber Freund Ernst!
Thank you Cindy…
Such vibrant colours Cindy. Are these beautiful cactus flowering in your Holler?
About half of them are from The Holler, the rest are from the San Diego Botanical Park and The San Diego Safari Park.
Lucky you having all that beauty in your Holler
Lucky like you! Don’t forget I have seen your amazing garden! <3
I love that fairy! How neat. 🙂
She is very creative isn’t she!
Yes she is. I’d love to have that in my garden.
Me 2!
Beautiful desert!
Very pleased you enjoyed and happy weekend!
I love desert in spring – such abundance of colors!
Such beautiful flowers, Cindy! I love cactus. Here in Oregon we don’t get much of that, but when the cactus I grow in my yard reward me occasional by flowering I feel an enormous sense of accomplishment–like I did it, lol. I’d like to visit desert country sometime!
That is an accomplishment getting cacti to flower in the garden in Oregon! I’m impressed!
😇
Wonderful, wonderful sights, thank you so much.
Awww, thank you so much more for the thoughtful appreciation!
I love the Cactus Fairy!!! I’ve thought of an Art Gown along this vein, but of course it would take a few months to grow in my yard, & once again I’m going back to work. Well, step 1, buy a sacrificial Judy. Step 2, make a multi-tiered gown with many pockets out of a plastic picnic table cloth. Step 3 insert mud and seeds into pockets. I’ve always envisioned Lobelia. Pansies & Alyssum.
How beautiful it is in the Holler!
This is built with a wire cage frame, but I think I like your idea too. I have seen the plastic pockets growing succulents most successfully. Lobelia, pansies and allyssum would be utterly divine. I can see it too and I can’t wait until you have the time to make it! Maybe go with seedlings from the nursery to give them an extra boost, plus it will look gorgeous immediately and only get better. It will be so gorgeous~ <3
Thanks Cindy! I will definitely start with seedlings!
Looking very much forward to seeing your result!
Gorgeous, Cindy! The colors are so vivid. Desert plants fascinate me, because they’re so unusual and beautiful, with unique adaptations.
Thank you and I share your interest. They are fascinating plants, even when not blooming.
These are fabulous photos. The desert is more than beautiful when in bloom. The colors are so vibrant. Thank you for sharing.
The desert is often subtle, but not when the cacti and wildflowers bloom. During this time it is downright flashy! 😉
Preciosas flores del desierto. Y es que la Naturaleza se adapta hasta a los lugares más inóspitos para dar belleza. Un abrazo Cindy y buen finde. 🙂
Agradezco sus amables comentarios y me gusta practicar la escritura en espanol. Gracias querido amiga. Con todo mi afecto y abrazos~ <3
Para mí es un placer ayudarle a practicar mi idioma. Esto, además, me facilita la comunicación, porque mi inglés es muy elemental y no me expreso bien. El conocimiento de idiomas es indispensable en el mundo actual porque abre las puertas a nuevas amistades con personas afines. Un gran abrazo amiga. <3 <3 <3
Este es un comentario inteligente y perspicaz. Tu son una mujer inteligente y una muy buena amiga mia. Feliz fin de semana y abrazos~ <3
this must be the most magical time in the desert!
Yes, peak bloom is brief, but oh so lovely!
Love that cactus fairy. I didn’t know they existed. I hope she flies this way next.
Well, if you wish hard enough…….. 😉 <3
Ha! 🙂
<3
Isn’t it always surprising to see such vibrant colors in the desert? Lovely colors, Cindy.
It is, and I especially love the varied hues~
Thank you. 🙂
<3 <3
Where were these photos taken? The fairy princess in buds was fascinating!
They were taken at The Holler, The San Diego Botanical Garden and The San Diego Safari Park.
I’ve been to San Diego but never to the park or gardens. And of course, I’ve never been to The Holler. 🙂 Great photos.
Well if you plan to visit in the future, let me know, and I’ll give you some insider tips!
Oh how I miss the beauty of the desert…thank you for sharing 🙂
It is such a unique and quiet landscape. It grows on you doesn’ it, and I can well understand how you would miss it~ <3
The tree at the end of the post is a spectacular ending!!
So glad, it is an impressive tree isn’t it!
Piękne kwiaty
Dziękuję i wiwaty do ciebie! <3
<3 <3 🙂
🙂
Gorgeous to see the desert in its festival wear. It makes sense of the clothes people wear in Mexico for festivals.
Yes, and all of Diego Rivera’s flowers!
Now you just need Frida Kahlo’s eyebrows. 😉
I could use them, mine are rather sparse!!
Love the cactus fairy 💕
She, like all fairies, is magical!
Reblogged this on The Linden Chronicles: The Wolf's Moon/The River and commented:
Gorgeous cacti flowers from Cindy Knoke!
Love cacti. I remember a cacti park in Monaco. Gorgeous and in a beautiful setting too. Thanks, Cindy!
Pretty, pretty, pretty, Cindy. And that tree: my goodness. That’s impressive. Are you still on holidays or back home now?
Pingback: Desert Flowers~ — | vacation and travel
What are the purple flowers in the first picture? (The image is named: dsc01119.jpg)
I am in San Diego, and I’m trying to figure out what type of flower this is, cause I’ve seen it before, but I haven’t known what it was called.