Yucca in Bloom at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

The yucca were starting to bloom on my visit to Anza-Borrego Desert. This flower head was heavy with creamy-colored blooms. It struck me how the flowers cymbidian orchid in a way. The bees were going crazy over these flowers.

This photo is viewable in the Desert Flowers Gallery (For slow internet connections visit the Dial-Up Gallery)

Agave and Cacti at the Huntington

This photo of a long agave flower stalk (actually known as an "inflorescence") was taken at the desert garden at the Huntington Library gardens in San Marino, CA. The image is an HDR photo composed of three exposures at 2 EV shifts. 100ISO.

I like how this turned out quite moody. The overcast in the sky created a nice gray background that the greens stand out well on. And of course the aloe and cacti make for great interest.

Yucca Bloom Arches National Park

I took this photo of this beautiful yucca glauca bloom (Great Plains yucca) in Arches National Park in May.

For interesting info on yucca plants see Wikipedia's yucca page. And also according to a Wikipedia post on edible flowers, yucca glauca (and several other species of yucca) make the list. Ask the yucca moth!