Monsoon Blooms

I'm currently in Tucson, checking out the monsoon. It's been an active one this year; Tucson had over five inches of rain in the last two weeks of July. As a result, the countryside is verdant; the greenest I've seen since the El Nino of 1983-84. And that was in the spring, not in August. The rain has helped some of the cactus to bloom; here's a little cholla showing flashy large magenta flowers.

The barrel cacti are the stars of the show right now. Lots of them are blooming; from what I read they normally bloom in summer rather than spring, and the monsoon moisture is sure helping them!

The symmetry of many cacti is fascinating, and gorgeous. Here's a barrel, looking down from the top.