Fairy Dusters!

A whole new world of flora and fauna!  I love learning about plants and critters in areas I've never lived - so one of my first excursions was a trip to the library for some ID books.  Another trip to Barnes and Noble for a couple of handly little field guides to help me learn new birds, butterflies, trees and flowersn now I'm loaded and ready to roll!

One of the first flowers I fell in love with here is the Baja Fairy Duster.

This particular bush is in the front yard here at Carrie and Brent's home.  I haven't quite figured out the flower structure yet, but I suspect that the long red gizmos are stamens, and there is a little whitish yellowish dot on the end of each one.  Further research happening...

Calliandra californica loves hot dry sunny sandy areas.  Check.  That's the front yard in a nutshell.  It's a very popular landscaping plant in desert Arizona, having low water demands.  And it's colorful!

Another plus - butterflies LOVE it!  This little pretty is a Marine Blue. At about 1", it provides some scale to the Fairy Duster blossom, which is usually about 1 1/2" to 2" long.

Growing to about 5'x5', Fairy Duster is often kept smaller with judicious pruning.  It blooms spring through fall.  The fine foliage is "semi-evergreen". 

I've only lived with REAL evergreens.  Trees, that is.  I'm curious to see what this "semi" business looks like...

In the meantime, I love taking pictures of this cheerful, exotic addition to my new Nature in the Desert notebook!