Token Snow Shot

No time to go anywhere interesting Sunday to take snow photos, but i couldnt resist a token shot of the heavy snow in Pueblo West this morn, taken in back of my house. I thought the cactus/flowers/white was an interesting combo. Long exposure for a slightly high-key look.
5D; 17-40; 2s at f/22

Stan,

Interesting cactus...does this thing get covered in these yellow flowers when it's in a full bloom? How much snow did you guys get? Nice capture, by the way.

I slept through most of the snow, but from what i heard we just got about this, an inch or so maybe, most of it melted as it hit the ground. Crestone (in the Sangres) got nearly two feet! Todd probably knows more about these cacti than i do, but no this is about it for the flowers.

The cactus is called a "Cholla" (Choy-ya). In late June it will have several big beautiful pinkish-purple blossoms. Very nice for close-ups.

BTW, keep your distance because if you brush up against one, even lightly, chunks of it will attach itself to you by means of long, barbed needles! And they hurt when you yank them out with pliers!!

What Phillip said. I had a run-in with a teddy bear cholla at Picacho Peak State Park in AZ several years ago, and it wasn't fun. You could see where pieces of the spikes were left in my fingers for years afterwards.

This being a Tree Cholla Cactus, it is definitely not something to hug if you're a tree-hugger

The yellow "blooms" on this cholla are actually the fruits from last year's flowering. These fruits are much-loved by deer, birds, etc. Big magenta flowers come usually in late spring to early summer (depending on moisture levels) and are often visited by Black-chinned Hummingbirds. The plant itself is a favorite nesting place for Cactus Wren. As the others said, don't mess with this bad boy....

Cheers....Gail.

I like the yellow flowers against the high key white, interesting Cactus!. We got zilch snow up in Nth Colorado Front Range!.

Very nice. The flowers really stand out.

I really like the effect of the snow on the cholla. It would make a great abstract if you could separate it more from the background.

Thanks for the comments and botany lessons, folks!

Just bothers me way too much sticking up above the horizon and the blown out sky. Other than that, it's a great shot.