By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer
Stephen Ingram's book with the above title, recently released from Cachuma Press (Los Olivos, California) has been sitting on my desk for at least a month now waiting to be reviewed.
It's not that I haven't opened it. I probably crack the cover every few days. But I always get so absorbed in the pictures I never read very far. Though I don't like spiny, prickly things in my own garden, I love the desert. And every time I open Ingram's book and get hooked on his pictures, I want to go back to places I already know and love such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and Joshua Tree National Park. Plus some places his book has introduced me to I've never explored. Whipple Mountains Wilderness in San Bernardino County and Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada for starters. And when I do I'll take his book. It looks like a great field guide.
So I've decided I'm not going to wait to review Ingram's book. I'm just going to share some of his photos and see if they inspire you, too.
Beavertail cactus at Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Teddy-bear cholla with blooming desert senna in the U.C. Sacramento Mountain Reserve
Mojave mound cactus at Joshua Tree National Park
You can find more of Ingram's photos on his website. Or see him on one of his book tour stops -- see the schedule below. Bet he gives a great slide show.
AUTHOR LECTURE DATES FOR CACTI, AGAVES, AND YUCCAS OF CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
Santa Barbara: July 25, 7 p.m., Blaksley Library, 1212 Mission Canyon Road. Hosted by Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. 805/682-4726 or www.sbbg.org
Sun Valley: July 26, 10 a.m., 10459 Tuxford Street. Hosted by The Theodore Payne Foundation. 818/768-1082 or www.theodorepayne.org
Encinitas: July 27, 2 p.m., 230 Quail Gardens Drive. Hosted by Quail Botanical Gardens. 760/436-3036 or www.qbgardens.org
Crowley Lake: July 30, 7:00 p.m., Crowley Lake Community Center. Hosted by the Bristlecone Chapter of CNPS. www.bristleconecnps.org
San Marino: August 30, The Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road. Hosted by The Huntington Library Botanical Gardens, Succulent Symposium. 626/405-2100 or www.huntington.org.
Reno: September 4, 7:00 p.m., Room 104 of the UNR Department of Environmental and Resource Sciences Building, 1000 Valley Road. Hosted by Nevada Native Plant Society. heritage.nv.gov/nnnpsprg.htm
Henderson: September 8, 6:30 p.m., U.S. Geological Survey Office, 160 N. Stephanie Street. Hosted by Nevada Native Plant Society. 702/455-3859 or heritage.nv.gov/nnnpsprg.htm
Las Vegas: September 10, 7:00 p.m., 333 S. Valley View Blvd. Hosted by the Springs Preserve.
702/258-3956 or www.springspreserve.org
Solvang: September 18, 7:30 p.m., Solvang Branch Library, 1745 Mission Drive. Hosted by Santa Ynez Valley Natural History Society. 805/6935683 or www.syvnature.org
Arroyo Grande: September 20, 10:00 a.m., 379 W. El Campo Road. Hosted by Native Sons Wholesale Nursery. 805/481-5996 or www.nativesonsnursery.com
Santa Cruz: September 22, 7:00 p.m., UC Santa Cruz, Horticulture Building. Hosted by Friends of the UCSC Arboretum. 831/427-2998 or www2.ucsc.edu/arboretum/friends.
Las Vegas: October 2, 7:00 p.m., Nevada Garden Clubs Center, Lorenzi Park, 3333 W. Washington. Hosted by Cactus and Succulent Society of Southern Nevada. www.csssn.org
Monterey: October 16, 7:00 p.m. (Meeting place undetermined at this time.) Hosted by the Monterey Bay Chapter of CNPS. (831) 582-3687 or www.montereybaycnps.org.
Berkeley: October 19, 4:00 p.m., 2904 College Avenue. Hosted by Mrs. Dalloway’s. 510/704-8222 or www.mrsdalloways.com
San Francisco: October 21, 7:00 p.m., County Fair Building, Golden Gate Park at 9th and Lincoln. Hosted by San Francisco Cactus and Succulent Society. www.sfsucculent.org
Orinda: October 22, 7:30 p.m., Garden Room, Orinda Library, 24 Orinda Way. Hosted by the East Bay Chapter of CNPS. www.ebcnps.org
San Diego: November 8, 1:00 pm., Room 101, Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park. Hosted by the San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society. www.sdcss.com
