I enjoy hearing friends talk about the plants that they’ve seen on walks or hikes and when we share our enthusiasm the jabbering is so sweet. The flowers on manzanitas look like small porcelain bells. These are on pointleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens) and the photo was taken when we went out to gather firewood in the foothills of the Chiricahua Mountains. The small holes you see on the flowers are made by a few species of bees and wasps…nectar thieves. It’s fascinating and I intend to learn more about them. Stay tuned. The photo of the heart shaped prickly pear pad (stem!) was taken on a hike when Ms. Mesquitey had me photographing every heart shape pad we came across. Who knew there were so many heart shaped cactus pads out there in the hills to be photographed?
Growing Native- Martin Luther King Petey reminisces about his confused middle class white kid journey in segregated Kentucky. Petey Mesquitey is KXCI’s resident storyteller....
The Bighorn Fire in the Catalina Mountains near Tucson, AZ. started on June 5th of 2020 and as I sit and write this a...
Petey can’t get to the mountains, but the mountains come to him. Lucky dude. Monarda menthaefolia or bee balm is a spectacular wildflower. Well...