By now, many of you have seen unbelievably beautiful photographs of the desert "bloom" this year in Arizona and California.  Although the landscapes, and thus the flowers are not the same in New Mexico, there is a slow motion bloom happening right now in northern New Mexico.  It presents itself to those lucky enough to hike on the right trail at the right time, and who keep their eyes open for flowers "hidden in plain sight".  

Most of the year on the high mesa, the only time we see barrel and claret cup (also called hedgehog) cacti that hug the ground and blend into their surroundings is if by chance we step on one, or mistakenly run into one cutting high grass, or pulling "weeds".  Thanks to friends who have been keeping an eye out on the cactus, we had the chance to hike on a trail that was new to us yesterday and see the bloom.  It was and remains quite impressive.

Cactus do like warmth and seem to plug themselves into nooks and crannies that gain both sunshine and occasional moisture provided by nature's drip irrigation.  A perfect example of that is shown below.  The Echinocereus viridiflorus is hedgehog cactus offering splendid yellow-green blooms, and frequently found in rocky landscapes.

yellow hedgehog cactus

yellow hedgehog cactus blossoms

Much brighter and easier to spot are the scarlet hedgehog cactus, often called Claret Cup, Echinocereus triglochidiatus.

scarlet hedgehog cactus under rocks

scarlet hedgehog in rocks

The claret cups are often in the company of other wildflowers, as shown in the photograph below, with daisies.

single scarlet hedgehog and daisies

The photograph here almost looks like a bridal bouquet, courtesy of the artistry of Mother Nature.

scarlet hedgehog cactus and daisies bouquet

Although they like the heat, these cacti sometimes plant themselves in the shade of a piñon or juniper tree and are happy as long enough sun shines on them.

scarlet hedgehog horseshow

And one more closeup to round out the set.

scarlet hedgehog cactus blossom closeup

I want to thank all of you who participated in my blog survey of images for the Tasty and Artful card set last week - Lucia, Ellen, Lisa, Sam D., Char, Barbara, Dianne, Louise, Myra, Terry, Marilyn, Susie, Charlie, Pauli, Steve and Ingrid.  Over the two blog period, the images with the most votes were: 

Native American corn

 New World food

cauliflower soup

coffee in Zimbabwean basket

 heirloom tomatoes

 mini squash in basket

tea

veined lettuce

Victoria's apples

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image@