Fun with macros

Now that I've finally figured out that the little flower symbol on my camera means I can take really, really close-up pictures, I thought I'd try some flower macros (or at least close-ups.) Since we're back in Tucson for a few days, today I hiked King Canyon in Saguaro National Park. It is reputed to be one of the best places for wild flowers.


It was pretty impressive in variety. Besides lots of poppies right along the path,



there were lots of lupine. These are not like the lupine found in higher climates; these are only about 6-8 inches high.



I like the bright orange of the desert mallow.



Then there were lots of flowers unknown to this moderate gardener. There were purple ones,



tiny yellow ones,



and star-shaped ones (this one was actually a bush.) If you click on this picture, you can see each bristle has a knob on the end like a hairbrush.



Then I thought I'd see what a cholla cactus looks like up close. The answer is darn scary!



When my water was two-thirds gone, I turned around at this spot. If this used to be somebody's house, they certainly didn't encourage visitors!


If anybody can identify my unknown varieties, please let me know.