Metamorphosis

  While I truly love the cactus blooms, there are so many more lovely plants to enjoy.   I love so many of the agave plants that can be found here.  This one looks fake but I assure you it is real.  I like to add odd stuff in my gardens, hence the oversized jack. I think this is some kind of sage and it has graced me with purple blooms for weeks now.  It's getting leggy and will be trimmed back before we leave. This is a variegated Queen Victoria and it's lovely just the way she is. This agave is a lovely mix of colors and is busy making a little colony.  You go girl!  Oh and look at that fun rusty truck full of lush succulents.  Yeah, those are fake. I remember when I bought this one the man told me that other cactus will prick you and hurt, but this one will slice off a chunk of your finger. That's when I knew I was in love with the fishhook cactus. You'll notice I often put rocks around the more dangerous ones. That's as much to protect me as the plant. This was

  I love this time of year in Arizona with all the beautiful blooms of the cactus. My friend Wanda gave me a chunk of her Argentine Giant and  I planted it out by the street where it would get lots of sun and today I was rewarded. The blooms only last a day or so, but they are breathtaking. A while back my friend Denise  and I went on a cactus rescue of those in the resort who no longer wanted theirs.  This is one of those rescues and this year it shot up with blooms taller than me.   It's first time I've seen it bloom and it made me feel so blessed. Well, ok...that's not so spectacular since I'm not terribly tall. Then I spotted another one on my side garden that I think is called a hedgehog.   It graced me with a lovely pink flower and the promise of more to come. Of course, not all the cactus have big flowers.  Some of the cutest ones are so very tiny. This is a prickly pear cactus in bloom. They're pretty common, but still lovely. I have no idea what this is cal

This is the first post of my new blog "Metamorphosis" as the new title fits my ever changing life. This season has been a busy one and has been consumed by the construction of my new shed.  When the RV lot behind us came up for sale a couple of years ago we jumped at the chance to buy it, mainly to control who was living right behind us.  It also gave me an opportunity to create a space for working on all my craft projects.  And Left Brain was excited to see all that stuff leave the house, along with the mess I made while working on my crafts. Still looking for the perfect thing to put over the window in front.  I have my eye on a lovely large "tree of life" from Amazon.  But that will have to be next season. The face on the side was purchased from a garden center in Minnesota. It came from Haiti and was made from an old oil drum. Once those two things were in place, it was time for the fun stuff! I had the shed painted to match our house with a gray paint called &q