In addition to all the wildfire smoke last month, a wide variety of clouds made for a number of interesting scenes. Pedernal, the distinctive butte below, can be seen from many vantage points in northern New Mexico. Its official name is Cerro Pedernal, which means “flint hill” in English.
Numerous clouds filled the sky close to Ghost Ranch. I made multiple photo stops and noticed the blooming banana yucca below. I decided to include it in a photo with the surrounding landscape.
As I looked at it more closely, I realized it was an exceptionally pretty yucca. Yucca flowers usually nod toward the ground when they open, which makes it hard to see them; several of these particular flowers actually opened outward.
Furthermore, yuccas are often covered with aphids busily sucking the sap out of the buds. As a result, many of the buds never successfully open. I saw neither aphids nor evidence of their destruction on this particular yucca.
The clouds became even more spectacular. I was looking southeast toward Ghost Ranch and couldn’t decide which part of the expansive scene I liked most. So I shot multiple frames, then later stitched them together into a wide panorama.
The photo above shows the left-most part of the scene. The entire panorama would have been so tiny if I’d included it in this email that you would hardly have been able to see it. Instead, you can view it by clicking here.
That yucca is so perfect, it would make a beautiful bouquet!
Gorgeous NM skies! Thank you!