So many varieties of palm trees in the desert - Who knew?

PALMS
Since I moved to the Valley of the Sun, I've discovered the many, many kinds of palm trees and palm shrubs that live in this desert.  I'm baffled that I have lived this long and not known this.  I truly thought that there were maybe 3 kinds of palms, but NO... There are Royal palms, Queen palms, Christmas palms, Lady palms, Palmettos (but not in AZ, I think), Pygmy palms, Date palms, Coconut palms, and a whole lot more, I'm sure.

Although I usually couldn't pick out most of these varieties, my favorites are the Royal,  the Christmas, and the one I call the Dr. Seuss palm.  I still don't know the Dr. Seuss palm's actual name for sure, but you'd recognize it.  It is very, very tall; has a proportionately skinny trunk and a little bunch of fronds at the top, like a shaggy head of hair.  It doesn't actually grow straight up, but sort of curves to one side and then tries to head up again.  Dr. Seuss (a native of California) drew them in almost every one of his books.  They added perfectly to the atmosphere of fantasy and silliness that he was trying to create because these palms look silly.

Dr. Seuss palms - probably actually called Mexican  Fan Palms

Selection of palms outside my apt - Royal Palm, Mexican Fan Palm, Queen Palm... ?

Short, stumpy palms - are they babies?  I don't know

This could be the Christmas Palm.  The photos I've seen show them low to the ground, looks like no more than 6 feet high, and clumped like this.  They flower around Christmas with red blossoms, hence the name.

If you look closely at this Royal Palm, you can see the seed pods that have started to form.  Eventually, they will be hanging down, all brown and dry ready for the seeds to fly away in the wind as they wave.  All that has to be trimmed toward the end of summer so they look their best for the tourists, I think.

Of course, there is also the Fake Palm, a recent arrival to this area.

CACTI

I've discovered that the desert seems to bring out my Dr. Seuss silly side, especially with the local flora.  There is one cactus that I've posted photos of before.  My husband and I call it the Psycho cactus.  It has spiny arms reaching out with these globs of spines at the ends that look eerily like claws. They have a threatening look that I find creepy.   Apparently, this cactus is some sort of Cholla, but we can think of it only as Psycho.  It's not pretty in the classic sense, but it does have a sort of "fatal attraction".

There are more cacti in the Valley of the Sun than one can count; thousands of different cacti.  So many that I don't plan to present them all because...  well, these (below) are the only cacti that I actually like and frankly I only like them a little.  Sorry cacti.

Giant Sahuaro cactus (in flower)

Close-up of the white flowers with yellow centers

This is one form of Prickly Pear cactus [We saw these all over Spain and Malta.  They would grow more than 6 feet high.  The Maltese use them as hedges between farms and they eat the pears as a delicacy.]

Red Prickly Pear, my favorite

This is some sort of Agave (with my handsome husband sitting in front for perspective).  Some of these Agaves grow really HUGE.

And some Agaves stay small. But, all of them seem to have impressive shoots that come out when they flower.

Barrel Cactus?  This one is dressed for Christmas in someone's front yard.  See the little red ball Christmas ornaments?

Don't worry there will be no more posts about the desert palms and cacti, unless there is something spectacular at the Desert Botanical Gardens when I go again in the Fall or Winter.  My curiosity is leading me elsewhere.  In fact, I think the Heard Museum of Native American arts is calling.  Until next time...

South Mountain Park, Phoenix, AZ and family reunion

South Mountain Park is a city park on the south side of Phoenix.  It was cooler yesterday, only 99 degrees, so we ventured out to see it.  This is the view from South Mountain Park - downtown Phoenix in the distance.

Magnified view of Phoenix

In order to get these photos and a few more, I had to climb a fairly small hill from the parking lot.  Steve waited in the air conditioned car while I did that.  I have to say that 99 degrees is pretty close to the same as 106 to my body.  As I climbed, I met a young woman coming down and asked her if the view was worth the climb.  She said it was great, but that she had to go back because the heat was making her feel like passing out.  The woman was at least 50 years younger than I.  Just saying'...

This park has the most saguaro cacti that I have seen together anywhere in the region.  

There are little yellow "hair-topped" looking cacti often seen next to the saguaros.  I think these may be "baby" saguaros. They remind me of Meghan when she was under 1 year old and had blonde hair that stuck straight up off her head. (I mean hair that was more than 3 inches long; it didn't start falling over until then.  We called her Beaker - sorry, Meghan, I couldn't help it.)

Several other high points:

This looked like a ruin, but could have been built for tourists.

The park ranger station, at the gate, with drinking water and restrooms.

Exhausted, we came home and discovered that we didn't need a full day to recover as usual.  Because today we were able to get up early (unusual for us) and we visited my parents again to have a partial family reunion.  

My brother Gary, sister-in-law Natalie, and niece Lilia and, of course, my brother Mark who lives in Phoenix, my husband Steve, and I were here to celebrate Dad's 91st birthday and our parents' anniversary.  It was wonderful to have all of us in the same room again.  

Mom and Dad were thrilled.  They will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in February and it was so nice to be able to celebrate that with them now, since it won't be possible for us all to be here in February.  Mom said she has loved Dad for 71 years and  I know the feeling is definitely mutual.  They are an inspiration to all of us.  We love you, Mom and Dad.  Happy Anniversary! 💋

Tomorrow, Steve and I plan our next moves.  Gary and family are on their way back to Las Vegas and their flight back home.  Steve and I may be headed for Los Alamos, New Mexico soon.  We'll see.

Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix (oh, my!)

Desert Botanical Gardens - We finally forked over the $$ to go to the Phoenix botanical gardens.  They are located inside Papago Park (the Phoenix city park, one of the largest urban parks in the world), along with the Phoenix Zoo and some interesting hiking and picnicking options.  The stated entrance fee for the Gardens was $25 each, so we waited until we thought our stamina in this heat and my broken toe were ready for the necessary walking in order to get our money's worth.  Thanks to dear AAA travel club, we got a whopping $10 discount and spent a fascinating, if uncomfortable, 3 hours at the Gardens.  (This, of course, was interrupted about half-way through by a stint in the air-conditioned Gertrude's Restaurant on the premises, for drinks and a nibble, because our endurance was not quite as good as we thought.  The waiter entertained us with information about how to recognize someone who is about to suffer heat exhaustion - red in the face/splotchy, looking disoriented - and how to help them - under no circumstances give that person ice water; they will go directly into shock and real heat exhaustion.  Cool their skin with tepid water, help them drink tepid water for a few minutes, then as they cool down follow with ice water.  Steve and I may be ready for the desert soon.)

The desert plants are a cultivated taste, but they can be beautiful.  Judge for yourself:

Creeping Devil cactus; something just isn't right.

I think of this as a Medusa Tree; creepy.

The ranger thinks this is a form of marigold.  What do you think?

Prickly Pear

Tomorrow we visit St. Mary's Basilica in Phoenix and then the Phoenix Art Museum with my brother, Mark.