I think the cold weather may finally be officially passed. The cholla and prickly pear have ceased to droop and are putting on buds; the hedgehogs and rainbows are blooming, and one horse crippler has an early flower. This is the first week of May, the time my cactus bed traditionally begins to flower. So we are right on schedule. But of course, one should be careful what one wishes for. I couldn’t wait for the cold weather to finally be over. Well, it is. And with the fall of one sunset and the rise of that sun the next morning we are already into 90 degree-plus temperatures. So I have no choice but to enjoy all the color that is about to come my way. Let me share some of it with you.

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I even discovered that this horse crippler that I had written about earlier and thought I had lost to a cold and dry winter had not died after all-it was just shriveled and enveloped with dirt from all our sand storms. I took the hose to it, washing away all that dirt, and there it was, healthy and green! It even has buds forming and will flower soon-look closely for a touch of pink in the center.  So never give up on them until you know for sure they really have died!