Puzzle Description:

A cactus flower for Minnie - did you have any like this in New Mexico?

#1: Gypso (Gypso) on Jul 19, 2007

Outstanding. Wonderful representation! Are you a florist by any chance? Thanks for the flowers :)

Lol, I'm not a florist! Actually, the only plant I currently own is a cactus, because my cats have eaten all the others. And even my cactus looks a bit, er, chewed up.

Thank you for the kind comments!

Don't feel bad Meg. I'm a flower faery and I've kill every house plant I've ever owned, without the aid of a cat! Regardless, the flowers that you "grow" in your puzzles are nearly as beautiful as live ones and more importantly give at least as much happiness :D Thanks again!

I must admit that after doing the iris for Marie-Louise I was hoping that New Mexico might be in the offing. As soon as I opened the page and saw green with bits of red I thought "cactus paddles"! I have never had someone make a puzzle just for me, and such a beautiful one at that. It looks just like millions of others in the spring- the bright bits are so outstanding in that austere landscape. (P.S. Patricia- I had never heard the phrase "flower fairy", but I will now apply it tp myself for I have also killed every plant I have owned, including cactus!) I will keep this one and am fairly sure it will survive. Thanks, Meg!

Looks to me like a prickly pear cactus.

One of the things I found odd during the seven years I lived in Texas was how things that I knew as house plants that people carefully tended in pots just grew wild all over the place, like weeds. I mean, I guess it's obvious that all those house plants must be native somewhere, but it still seems strange.

I don't think prickly pears were native where I lived in West Texas. People planted them in their yards to be decorative, but during the winter, when it was cooler and wetter, they'd just kind of flop down on the ground looking dead. They seemed to perk back up again in the summers. But in East Texas and New Mexico, these things definitely grow wild.

When I lived in Texas, I'd pretty often head over to Big Bend National Park to camp and hike. The most popular hiking trails there are up in the mountains, which are wooded and where you can enjoy amazing views, but I was always fond of hiking down in the desert, which for me was a much less familiar landscape, full of lechigia and octotillo (probably spelled both of those wrong) and other spiky plants. It was hard going off trail, because every plant seemed to be covered in thorns and spikes, not just the cacti. One year I happened to come down there in the spring, and was amazed to find all these hard spiky plants in bloom. It was an amazing sight, completely magical. Or it would have been if my allergies hadn't nearly knocked me out. I guess the grasses were blooming too.

See, this is why I'd love to travel some day! I've only ever seen these plants in pots. I did drive down to Mississippi (just a week before Katrina hit, actually) to visit my relatives, and I was amazed at the plants and animals - all very different from the ones I'm used to seeing in Ontario. I was very happy to hear that the 300 (or more) year old oak by my grandmother's house survived the hurricane.

What was most startling, though, were the dead armadillos we saw on the highway. I thought armadillos were a Texas thing - I didn't know they were all over the South.

Beautiful puzzle, fun to do. I have one like this out the front of my house in a pot :)

A bit late on the conversation, but....

I was out in Las Vegas for a friend's wedding a couple of years ago and while they were all doing the "Vegas thing" before the wedding, I went hiking all over the place (geocaching, which is a wonderful way to see places you don't live, imo) and was astounded by the beauty of the plants and startled by the wildlife that kept popping up here, there and yon while on my hikes. I grew up in wooded areas, so the desert was a huge change for me and I absolutely loved it! Thankfully it was April and still comfortable enough to do all the outdoor wanderings. As it was there were a couple of days it got pretty dang warm. Couldn't have done it during the summer! (A few pics of hubby & I geocaching: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1564&l=160b4&id=506743467 And no, none from my LV trip - pre-digital camera days for me! :D)

Anyway, still (slowly buy surely) enjoying this series... Thanks for putting them together!!

Thank you for sharing your photos Deana. Your geocaching adventure looks like great fun. How did you get involved with this? I loved the shot (#30) of both you and Robert (DeanasHubby). But the most beautiful is of you in #33. Such a lovely photo. Thanks again for the peek at your grand adventure. ^v^

I had a friend drag me into geocaching. I've been doing it 3 years now and have just over 1,000 finds. I tend to do it in spits and spurts... generally while I'm away from home. It's easier to justify going out and looking for tupperware in the woods while you're on vacation. :D

I also love that shot of R & I. It's one of my favorites.
But, ick, I'm not real fond of that single shot of me. I was hot, tired and frustrated. :D

lol Deana. I still think that you look lovely. :D

The story behind being hot, tired and frustrated :D
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=2b21fbb0-8db6-452c-8132-5b1a11eb51d3

Pretty cool Deana. What a wonderful adventure. I think that you remained remarkably well humored. ;-) Thanks for sharing the log and the fascinating hobby. ^v^

I was remarkably well humored... AFTER the fact! Two days and some good sleep does a lot in that respect! ;)

My parents had a Christmas cactus, that made lovely fuchsia blooms once a year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlumbergera

That is quite, quite beautiful. Very enjoyable solve.

Enjoyed the solve! Nice pic!

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