Succulents and More™

I was asked to submit photos for possible inclusion in an upcoming book on agaves so I combed through tens of thousands of photos from the last 10 years. I knew I had taken a lot of plant pictures, but I was still surprised by the sheer number. The images I selected run the gamut from wide-angle shots to close-ups, and they show dozens of different species, including some mangaves. I have no idea how many will make it into the book—it may be none, one, a few, or a dozen. It all depends on which particular gaps need to be filled. I thought I'd share thumbnails of my submission with you, not only because it's always fun to see agave pictures, but also because they highlight the huge variety that exists within the genus. Lean back and enjoy!

All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray I've been for a walk on a winter's day I'd be safe and warm if I was in Tucson today Arizona dreamin' on such a winter's day With apologies to The Mamas & The Papas (John Phillips, Michelle Phillips) We spent Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law’s place in Mount Shasta where we had snow and temperatures as low as 10°F. Even though—or possibly because—everything looked like a winter wonderland , my mind was elsewhere: in Arizona. In a month, I’ll be there, soaking up the rays of the winter sun and exploring the best Phoenix and Tucson have to offer. This will be the third year in a row I’ve gone on a solo trip in December. While I’ll be focusing on places I haven’t been , I must admit I’ve spent quite a bit of time going over photos from previous trips to tide myself until December 27. Here are some of my favorites. All photos were taken during the month of December. From 2013: Tucson Mountain Park; the road goes ...

“Resistance is futile,” was the motto of the Borg on Star Trek: The Next Generation . Well, I resisted for a long time but I’ve finally given in and joined the 150 million folks who are already using Instagram. The goal is not to replace this blog—far from it—but to utilize yet another social media channel to share photos I take on my cell phone. Instagram offers a variety of tools to process photos, add effects, etc.—all on the fly, right from your mobile device. The image quality isn’t great, but these pictures are primarily meant to be consumed on a small mobile display anyway. I started to use Instagram at the beginning of my Southern California/Arizona trip and have had a lot fun with it over the last five days. To follow me on Instagram, search for “succulentsandmore” in your mobile app. Or, from your desktop, go to http://instagram.com/succulentsandmore/ .