Prickly Pear Blossoms

Prickly Pear Cactus Blossoms, Coconino National Forest, northern Arizona

You know it's finally summer at 7,000 feet in the cool mountain pine forests of northern Arizona when the prickly pear cactus plants blossom.


There aren't many of them up here in the Ponderosa forest. It must be at the very upper edge of their natural range. So, when I found these few, it was all the more special. I visit them at this time each year. Mid June. 


Coconino National Forest, north of Flagstaff, Arizona

Prickly Pear Cactus Blooms, Flagstaff, Arizona

[Photo: Prickly Pear blossoms. Click on picture for larger version.]

Twin blossoms of a prickly pear cactus glow in vibrant yellow and red underneath a Ponderosa pine forest on the Coconino National Forest north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Brown pine needles, shed the previous fall, provide subtle and interesting angles as they lay around and across the cactus pads.

You might also be interested in my Grand Canyon Photography blog..

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