Now You See Me . . . Cirrus Cactus in Tucson

Remember the old adage, stop and smell the roses? Well in this case, it is the cirrus cactus in Tucson.

On June 20th, I was lucky enough to run into my friend, Kay Phillips, as I was leaving for work. “Did you see the cirrus blossoms?” she asked. No, but when I looked straight ahead there they were, the most brilliant colors.

“Can you believe it? The cirrus cactus just bloomed last night” exclaimed Kay. Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize we had the cirrus cactus in our own backyard. I remembered watching the evening news the night before as they planned on filming the cirrus cacti at the Tohono Chul Park.

For 364 days out of the year, these ordinary, cylinder-shaped cacti are easily overlooked. Yet for one special day, the cirrus cactus transforms the desert landscape. How can the botanical experts precisely predict this magical event? You got me!

Here are a few photos I took of the cirrus blossoms located next to Hole #1 on the Oro Valley Country Club golf course.

I returned home an hour later and took these photos. It was about 9 am on June 20th.

Heading home that evening I noticed the blossoms had shrunk and by the next morning, the flowers were gone. What a valuable lesson revealed by nature, live life to its fullest!

Cheers!