Watching cacti bloom at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center

Echinocactus parryi at 10 am this Monday

We are having fun this spring watching what happens in the Cactus Greenhouse at Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center.  On Monday, we watched a Echinocactus parryi bloom!

Echinocactus parryi at noon

View from above at noon

Spring Break Programs and Cactus Showcase at CDRI

Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center is a perfect place to include in your Spring Break plans. The Nature Center offers over 3 miles of hiking trails, a 20 acre botanical garden, and cactus and succulent greenhouse with over 200 species of cactus native to the Chihuahuan Desert.

The Nature Center will be celebrating Spring Break the week of March 10^th through the 15^th . Visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy a daily guided hike through Modesta Canyon at 10:00am and a guided tour of the botanical garden and cactus and succulent greenhouse with a special focus each day at 2pm.

• Monday, March 10^th – Ethnobotany with Susan Penney
• Tuesday, March 11^th – Desert Life (Kids Program) with Jessica Glasscock
• Wednesday, March 12^th – Desert Plant Adaptations with Leslie Spicer
• Thursday, March 13^th –The Chihuahuan Desert with Cynthia Griffin
• Friday, March 14^th – Desert Plant Adaptations with Leslie Spicer
• Saturday, March 15^th – Ethnobotany with Susan Penney

For questions or more information on upcoming events and programs please contact the Nature Center at  432.364.2499, at education@cdri.org , or visit our website at www.cdri.org . The Nature Center is open year-round, Monday-Saturday, 9 to 5; located 4 miles south of Fort Davis, on HWY 118.

Cactus Showcase!

The Nature Center will have a variety of cacti available for purchase March 10^th through the 15^th.

Over 50 species of cacti and succulents native to the Chihuahuan Desert region are typically offered during this event. Whether you’re starting a cactus collection, adding that special plant to your existing collection, or just looking for something new for your garden, you’re sure to find it here.  To preview the preliminary list of cacti and succulents click here.

The majority of CDRI's cacti are seed-grown in our greenhouse or from Sul Ross State University’s Native Plant Propagation Program in Alpine.

Fred Clark's Cactus Garden

Fred Clark's Cactus Garden, Photograph, 1940 - 1949; digital image,
http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth14009/
From the Collection of the Clark Hotel Museum,
digitized in the Portal to Texas History

The Clarks operated the Clark Hotel in Van Horn for many years, and the building is now the county historical museum.  Fred Clark sold cactus at the hotel, this appears to be his garden by his home.

Flowers for our Moms

Prickly Pear, blooming in the region in time for Mother's Day!

Flowers for May Day!

Rainbow cactus blossom from the Cactus Greenhouse
at Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center
and Botanical Gardens

Prickly Pear blossom from near Van Horn

Taken recently just north of Terlingua and Big Bend
National Park!

Ocotillos in glorious bloom

Just yesterday, we found acres and acres of ocotillo in bloom just north of Terlingua along Hwy 118.  Here and there we found bluebonnets, blooming prickly pear cacti and other flowers too.  But the ocotillo's brilliant orange-red blossoms looked particularly outstanding against our clear blue sky. 

Nest in Big Bend National Park

It doesn't matter where you go, it pays to keep
an eye out for a surprise or two

Perched atop a cholla in Big Bend National Park, a nest...perhaps a desert wren's home?

Lovelies from the Cactus Greenhouse

One of the brightest places to show color just about anytime of the year is the Cactus Greenhouse in Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens.

Though our skies are generally bright this time of year, we always feel cheered by what we see in the greenhouse.  Usually something's blooming there!

 

Tenacious and beautiful in the evening light

Taken last night outside Marfa, shortly before sunset....so beautiful!

Cactus Greenhouse at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center

There's always something blooming at the Cactus Greenhouse at the Chihuahuan Nature Center and Botanical Gardens!   They're open Monday – Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and located four miles south of Fort Davis on Texas Highway 118.  The Center also has hiking trails and a great gift shop!  Plan to visit them soon!

Blossoms in Sunlight

Cholla Blooming Season

We're starting to see some lovely cholla blooming in the region!

The tree cholla is common in our Chihuahuan Desert landscape, and often is the only green plant around.  It generally grows between 2,000 and 7,000 feet.  After the plant dies, the long branches dry and reveal a skeleton-like cane.

The Franklin Mountains in bloom

Late yesterday, we visited Franklin Mountains State Park and were delighted to see a "forest" of ocotillo in bloom.  It is easy to feel so removed from the city, so away from it all, yet this beautiful park is located entirely in the city limits of El Paso.  You DON'T feel you're in a city when you're hiking or mountain biking the 37 square miles of parkland, you might as well be in the frontier.  Yet from places in the park there are spectacular views of mountain wilderness and the city.  One such place is the Sunset Trail, which we hiked yesterday.  Look behind you, and there are views like the one above.  Look in front, and the city is spread before you in the distance.

Blooming in the Cactus Greenhouse

Nearly every time we visit the cactus greenhouse at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Garden outside Fort Davis, we see something blooming.  This time of year, there seems to be more blossoms.  Saturday we stopped by and saw some beauties. 

Would you like to see more?  Visit the Center or "like" our Texas Mountain Trail Facebook page.  We post lovelies like this as often as we can!

Greenhouse blooms open right now!

In full bloom yesterday at the Cactus Greenhouse at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Garden, just outside Fort Davis.  Labeled Astrophytum capricorne, also called Goat's Horns Cactus, found in the Chihuahuan desert of Mexico.  But you can see it, with other lovely blooming cacti, in the greenhouse!

More from the Garden at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology

We saw all of these on Saturday at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology!  They have a beautiful garden there adjacent to Franklin Mountains State Park.

Texas Rainbow Hedgehog Cactus at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology

Texas Rainbow Hedgehog Cactus next to a few remaining spring mountain poppies outside
the El Paso Museum of Archaeology yesterday

The contrasting bands on the the cactus stem
gives the name "rainbow" and indicate
bands of yearly growth

Yesterday, we were delighted to see spring blooms at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology on Trans Mountain Road.  There were still poppies blooming from last weekend's poppy festival, and there were also several cacti blooming.  Spring is a great time to visit the museum's desert garden.

The Texas Rainbow Hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus dasyacanthus) was a real beauty.  The "rainbow" in the name refers to the contrasting colored bands on the stem, each reflecting a year's growth.  Spines are usually numerous, overlapping and interlocking, forming a mesh that covers the green color of the stem.  Blooms appear in the spring from March to May, earlier at lower elevations and later at higher elevations. The blossoms are bee-pollinated.  They open in the morning and close at night, and last about a week.

More about the El Paso Museum of Archaeology from their website:

El Paso Museum of Archaeology

The El Paso Museum of Archaeology tells the story of the first inhabitants of the El Paso area, the greater Southwest, and northern Mexico. Dioramas and exhibits in the museum narrate and depict American Indian lives and display their material culture from the Paleoindian hunters of the Ice Age to their modern Indian descendants. The exhibits and their content are periodically changed to reflect the scope of the museum's collections and the interests of the community.

The museum's grounds include 15 acres of nature trails, outdoor exhibits, and a desert garden with more than 250 varieties of native plants. There is also a gazebo for family picnics and small group activities.

 

The Museum of Archaeology is adjacent to the National Border Patrol Museum on Trans Mountain Road, near Franklin Mountains State Park.

Blooming right now all over the region--Claret Cup Cacti

A Claret Cup cactus, taken yesterday in Van Horn

Despite our drought, the claret cups are blooming this year.  One of our favorite places to see them is right
off I-10 at the Van Horn Ramada Inn, where several are planted in a row along the roadside.  In fact, a couple of years ago we chronicled the blossoming of one of these terrific plants, by taking a photo a day, and put it up on our facebook page.  You can see them all here.

Hope to see some of these blooming soon!

Some beautiful blooms at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center

Is the winter getting long for you?  Visit Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center's cactus greenhouse...there's usually something blooming.  These lovelies were blooming on Saturday!