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? 
There are a dozen species of Melampodium and I wonder which one Linnaeus was looking at when he honored Melampus with the genus name....
Dusty Calligraphy Petey thinks that Banner-tailed Kangaroo Rats are leaving us messages in the dust and dancing through the night as well! Oh dear.
I was looking through photos that I’ve taken of this plant over the years and realized I even have 35 mm slides of Jatropha...