Beavertail Supreme!

When you go to the Desert Southwest, there are several ways to hit the jackpot. One is to score on the slots in Vegas. Another is to find a profusely blooming cactus in the desert, and have it all to yourself to photograph. In the previous post, I was competing for space to shoot a fine blooming hedgehog. But a few miles up the road, I found an equally gorgeous beavertail cactus and had no photographic competition! However I must give kudos to a couple of women who were shooting the cactus when I noticed them from the road and thus discovered the scene...they had been among the posse of photographers in the cholla garden. They left this scene as I arrived. It's fairly unusual to find a cactus so in synch...usually a few flowers bloom one week, a few the next, and so on. To see a patch of cactus with a couple dozen blooms simultaneously in full flower is a rare treat!

Even a macro shot takes in a profusion of really gorgeous flowers!