This morning we stopped at Saguaro (sah-wah-ro) National Park in Tucson on the way to Gilbert. Saguaro, as we found out, is that iconic cactus made famous by old Westerns and Willy Coyote- the tall cylindrical cactus with arms. Although we'd seen plenty of cacti elsewhere, like prickly pear and ocotillo, this was the first for us to encounter the mighty Saguaro. And they truly exist! Not just a creation of Hollywood.
A plant interested us in particular because it looked like woody stems with little leaves. It turns out that these are the true Ocotillo, and that the fleshy succulent with the aternating knobs is a false Ocotillo. At least, according to Tusconers.
Some of the cacti had blooms! It was fun to see these barrel types with orange blooms. Although I took a picture, I wanted to take more home. I figured a stop at the local cactus nursery was in order.
But first- confession time. You know that urge to squeeze baby cheeks? Well when I see the little purple fig-like fruits on prickly pears, I have a hard time resisting the urge to squeeze them. Usually I succeed. Sometimes I don't. In this case, the fruit was ready to send me a strong signal.
Fortunately I had my tweezers on hand, but I learned my lesson.
At the cactus nursery after the park, we enjoyed looking at the many many baby cacti. When I told them of my interest of the barrel cactus and the prickly pear fruit, they showed me what happens when a fruit get overripe. It turns out I'm not the only one who can't leave them alone.
In the end, I came away with two small barrel cacti (one of which has a long blooming season) and a cutting of a family-friendly prickly pear. This one (on the right) could more correctly be called a furry pear cactus.
In Gilbert, we visited with and had dinner with Whitney's brother and sis-in-law, Josh and Chelsea. It was really fun to play around with their kiddos, who head a healthy appetite for reading books, being tickled, playing monster, and being tossed in the air by uncle.
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