I wonder if those volcanic islands that erupted at the floor of the Pacific Ocean 120,000,000 years ago, collided with North America, and erupted again as they broke up and formed these mixed hills of tangled volcanoes and ancient mid-ocean sea floor had the code for these prickly pears written into their flows and plutons. Because it sure looks like it….

Brittle Prickly Pear, Bella Vista

Brittle Prickly Pears don’t bloom every year, but the light and heat were just right last year, and the water this spring came at the right time, and they’re blooming now …

Look at that beautiful green pistil in the centre of the flower. I wonder if that’s why sweat bees are this colour …

Look again. From the smallest beginnings, great diversity develops in systems that arise from each other. Today I wanted to share my excitement at the beauty of the spring. Tomorrow…some cool images of evolution in progress. Oh, and as the prickly pears say about the future, long, long, long hence …