Saguaro cactus blooms on a low hanging arm

[StarryNite]

[Arkansas Granny]

1. It looks like it's offering a bouquet.

[StarryNite]

2. Awww Why yes it does!

[NJCher]

23. it really does!

and it has sixteen extra fingers! How helpful.

[KarenS]

3. love this!! Cactus flowers are my favorite!!

that cactus looks really beat up and yet presents such pretty flowers

[StarryNite]

4. Thank you!

Yes, she's an old one and yet she still contributes and gives.

[Goonch]

5. ;-{)🖖‍

[StarryNite]

7. Hahaha!

Now that's funny!

[George McGovern]

6. Fabulous StarryNite! Very cool how you included these three perspectives of composition.

[StarryNite]

8. Thank you George!

I wanted people to get an idea of just how old and worn down this cactus is yet it still has so much to offer. The pollinators were sure enjoying her flowers. And it was great to be able to take some pictures looking down at them rather than aiming way up.

[Walleye]

9. Amazing, I've never seen it. Thanks for sharing your fabulous photos

[StarryNite]

13. You're welcome Walleye!

Birds love the saguaro blooms. Woodpeckers peck holes in them for their nests and kind of turn them into cactus condos for all kinds of birds.

[wryter2000]

10. Gorgeous

Thanks for sharing.

[StarryNite]

14. Thank you wryter!

[Chakaconcarne]

11. Thanks for sharing!!

I'm also imagining the silence this cactus gets to enjoy on any given day.

[StarryNite]

15. You're welcome Chakaconcarne!

It's probably 150 years old, can you imagine all it has seen in its lifetime? All the rains, all the birds sitting on it and nesting in the holes that woodpeckers made. All the wildlife passing by...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. These are wonderful, my dear StarryNite!

All three views show something different, and all are beautiful!

Thank you.

[StarryNite]

16. Thank you CaliforniaPeggy!

[AverageOldGuy]

17. Magnificent photos!!!

Back in the early 1970's, when I was fresh from my last tour in Vietnam, the Army sent me to Univ of Arizona for grad school. We spent a lot of time in the Sonoran Desert -- never realized how beautiful the desert is.

We also discovered the Papago Native Americans -- now the Tohono O'odham -- and their baskets -- we have a collection of some fine Tohono O'odham baskets.

[StarryNite]

25. Thank you!

The Sonoran Desert is so different from other deserts. People not familiar with it would be surprised at all the life, both plant and animal that call it home.

That must be a really nice basket collection! A lot of work goes into those baskets, not like things done on machines.

[Hekate]

18. Exquisite!

[StarryNite]

26. Thank you Hekate!

[ancianita]

19. Just beautiful! Thank you for the varied perspectives.

I guess you live in Saguaro country. I love to see their hilly forest in western Arizona.

[StarryNite]

27. Thank you ancianita!

Yes, I live in the Phoenix metro area. It makes me sick to see the desert being bladed over as the cities expand and swallow up the natural habitat of so many wildlife species. They save and transplant some of the saguaros and other plants but most are killed, all in the name of "progress".

[ancianita]

32. ...

Oh, no, that is horrible. I wish there were environmental groups who had some legal clout to stop these developers who want to build on such arid land. Even with the Gila River, there might not be an endless water supply.

[StarryNite]

34. We are in the middle of a long, bad drought.

But of course they keep encouraging more and more growth. I'm afraid this is not going to end well.

[usonian]

20. Nicely done. Lovely flowers.

Some of us (cacti and people) only LOOK old. 🌼

[StarryNite]

28. Haha! True!

[wendyb-NC]

21. Very fine

That Saguaro has such personality and intense flowers. What rugged beauty you captured in the photos.

[StarryNite]

29. Thank you wendyb!

Some of them look quite rough on the outside but they just keep hanging in there. While others look perfectly healthy only to topple over. I guess that's much like people.

[ultralite001]

22. Thank you for sharing...

That is all...

[StarryNite]

30. Thank you!

[AllaN01Bear]

24. ohhhh . pretty.

[StarryNite]

31. Thank you!

[WiVoter]

33. Beautiful!

Thank you for sharing! ❤️

[StarryNite]

36. Thank you WiVoter!

[eppur_se_muova]

35. "Here, smell this !" nt

[StarryNite]

37. I never thought to 'carefully' smell them!

Now you have me wondering.