Cactus flower

Spotted these beauties on Benton Drive in Redding. Lovely prickly pears in bloom. Click any to enlarge.
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Cactus1Cactus doesn’t grow much further north than Redding in California, much like palm trees. Prickly pear is very drought tolerant plant, well suitable to southern exposure in Really Redding. Nopalitos, my friends!

Floral fireworks

Looking forward to the big display tonight in Redding. This waterlily in my backyard struck me as a firework-like display in itself.
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Shooting Stars in a meadow

Captured these images from a meadow off Mt Eddy, about an hour’s drive north of Redding. Very pretty.
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wildflower4 From Wikipedia, “Dodecatheon is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. The species have basal clumps of leaves and nodding flowers that are produced at the top of tall stems rising from where the leaves join the crown. The genus is largely confined to North America and part of northeastern Siberia. Common names include shooting star, American cowslip, mosquito bills, mad violets, and sailor caps.”

Mad Violets. They’re Really Redding.