Summer Blossoms

One of the things I was most sad to give up when we moved from Oregon was the gorgeous spring. All the blossoming trees lining the streets with pink, purple and white petals falling all around is just like my own personal heaven. Desert life doesn't exactly lend itself to what I thought was a really diverse changing of seasons. Hot and dry to a little less hot and dry. Cacti and dirt to, well, cacti and more dirt. However, just this week, I noticed some of the bushes in our backyard starting to blossom with flowers! I am so excited. They've burst with hundreds of beautiful purple stands of flowers. There are also some low-lying plants with small yellow flowers.
Then it also came to my attention that our very large cactus was sprouting a number of bulbs all along the edges of each fan. I believe it must be a prickly pear cactus. I've heard of them before, but never realized this is what people were talking about. Since these ones are staring to fall off I'm thinking they must be ripe, as well.I decided to do a little disection to take a closer look. They appear to be mostly full of water and seeds. According to our friends in South Africa they are edible, so I did a little research and found that you can apparently make jelly, prickly pear butter, vinaigrettes and cook them with other foods. Hmmm. I'm not sure if I'm ready to try any of the recipes this time around, but I think I'll have to try one next summer. My own little desert garden. Who knew? I'm feeling just a little more at home already.