Photos: 2019 Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park
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Kelly Presnell
Photojournalist
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Dozens of night-blooming cereus had their one night in the spotlight, opening just after sunset at Tohono Chul Park north of Tucson on July 13, 2019. It's an annual event. Grounds manager Lee Mason checks on the buds at the start of Monsoon Season and sends out daily updates, adjusting time estimates for the big night. The beautiful flowers come in a variety of pastel colors, but only open at night.
Tohono Chul Park the largest private collection of cereus cactus in the world, according to Michelle Armstrong, marketing director.
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Docent Janel Feierabend talks about the night-blooming cereus Emerald to onlookers under a cloudy sunset sky during the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz. A monsoon storm, with lightning but little rain over the park, blew through the area just before the gates opened. However that, and a rattlesnake a few yards down the trail from Emerald, didn't seem to deter those wanting to see the one night a year event.
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One of the three flowers the night-blooming cereus Emerald produced on her one night of the year during the annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul, Saturday, July 13, 2019.
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A monsoon storm, the first significant one of the season, crashes a few bolts down just before the gates opened for the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
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A photographer lines up a shot of a double bloom on a cereus during the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
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Lauran Penn gets a sniff of one of flower on the night-blooming cereus named Tentacles during the annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019.
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A pinkish night-blooming cereus is dotted with rain drops during a monsoon storm that sprinkled the park just before the opening of the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
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This year's big producer is the night-blooming cereus named Karen, which produced six flowers on the evening during the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
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Bill Blockhus-Morgan directs the light fall on his subject, one the night-blooming cereus Tentacles, opening flowers just after sunset on the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
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Sarah Kazy composes a two-bloom shot on Emerald, one of the dozen or so night-blooming cereus producing flowers this year at the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
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One of Emerald's three blooms gets recorded for posterity during the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
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An early stage opening of a flower on one of the night-blooming cereus just before sunset at the Annual Bloom Night at Tohono Chul Park, Saturday, July 13, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
Kelly Presnell
Photojournalist
