#421: The Saguaro Cactus

Reason to Be Happy #421:

The Saguaro Cactus
I was recently lucky enough to leave the bitter, brutally long Ohio winter and spend some sunny days in Arizona. I became quite a fan of the Saguaro.

 Known as one of "the defining plants of the Sonoran Desert," it is found only there—in Arizona, and the parts of California and Mexico that the Sonoran Desert touches. They can live to be 150-200 years old, and can grow to be between 40-60 feet tall.

 They have one main tap root that goes down a couple feet, but the majority of their roots spread out like a maze (as wide as the plant is tall) only about 3 inches deep, in order to get as much rainwater as they can. Can you tell I totally geeked out about these cool old guys? If you're geeking out, too, check out Science Friday's cool blog,
 "11 Things You Didn't Know about Saguaro Cacti."

 Here's my goofy fella bonding with his new century-old buddy. Aren't they both cute?

 The Saguaro has gorgeous white flowers in the spring and red fruit in the winter. I took all the photos except for the red fruit one (above). That comes from a really cool Kuriositas blog you should check out called "The Saguaro Cactus and Its Greedy Guests." It's chock full of amazing photos of birds, bats, owls, and other creatures making use of the Saguaro.

This last photo is of a giant Saguaro for sale at a garden center we visited. It was only $6,500. Um…I'll take two! I'm known for being out of control with my garden…
but, alas, I doubt it would thrive in Ohio.
The world is just so full of cool stuff.