Desert Botanical Garden

One of the reasons we love spending our winters in Arizona is because we love the desert and the plants that grow here.  Saturday we visited the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden.  In addition to the plants, we saw the art exhibit, Wild Rising, by Cracking Art.  The large plastic figures sure are colorful, but we weren't at all sure they enhanced the desert.  But here are a few photos of the displays.

Some coyotes, maybe?

Very large rabbits

Birds and their eggs

Penquins?

 Meerkats.  They are near the Chihuly glass plants from a previous year's art focus.

Frogs overhead

And, finally, what we came to see.  Many of the barrel cactus plants were blooming.

Look at this young cactus, maybe a saguaro, with babies.  This is how some cactus spread.

The patterns and textures of cactus plants is interesting.

This is a crested cactus.  The spreading growth at the top is attractive, but it is also something like a cancer growing on the plant.

Cholla cactus.  Some of these are referred to as teddy bear cactus.

Organ pipe cactus.  There is a national monument dedicated to this cactus in southwest Arizona.

I love the shape of agave plants.

This barrel cactus has had a baby.

Yellow squash blossoms are pretty.

We also saw how some of the native Americans--Apache and Akimel O'Odham--lived in this hostile environment.

This is one of their corrals, made with desert plants.

Santa Fe, Then Home

We have been busy settling in at our winter home in Gold Canyon so I haven't posted a blog for quite a while.  Our last major stop before coming here was in  Santa Fe, one of our favorite cities.

This fellow marks the entrance to Burro Alley, a narrow street lined with shops.

This is another narrow street, or alley, with shops and a restaurant.

The covered sidewalk along the side of the Governor''s Palace has long been where native American artists have offered their wares.  Many of them were selling jewelry.

I love the building style in Santa Fe.

Many of the sidewalks are covered, providing some shade for both pedestrians and the shops in the buildings.

                                           

The metal backs on several benches on the square are ornate, though not necessarily comfortable.

This small patio has displays from the surrounding shops.  They sure provide lots of decoration.

We did lots of shopping--or at least looking--but no buying during our visit to Santa Fe.  We enjoy the sights and sounds of the downtown area but we have been to Santa Fe and Taos numerous times over the years.  And we could buy many of the same things in Arizona, if we were interested. 

After a couple of hours on the Plaza, we went grocery shopping and returned to the RV.  The next day it was on to Holbrook, then the B-Line highway to Gold Canyon.