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Spring at Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden
Spring officially starts this week. For much of Canada and the United States, this has been a bitter winter, filled with snow, ice, and extreme cold. Spring may still seem remote for some, but signs of spring are evident in the Phoenix valley area of Arizona.
Lack of significant rainfall over the winter means fewer wildflowers will bloom in natural desert areas. In spite of that, there is plenty of colour to be found in the flowers and shrubs that are blooming in gardens and along the roadside. Cacti are full of buds and some are starting to bloom. And wildflowers are ablaze at the Desert Botanical Garden.
Tufted evening primrose
Cholla
Barrel cacti and desertbells
Desertbells
Mexican honeysuckle
Blooms atop a cardon cactus.
Cardon cacti are the world’s largest cacti, and are sometimes confused with the similar looking saguaro cactus
Pink fairy duster
The delicate, vividly-hued blooms on the forbidding cacti plants beautifully symbolize the hope of spring
What signs of spring do you see?
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25 Comments
Anna Khan
March 19, 2014 at 9:57 amHello Donna
I really enjoyed your post …..
I live in Saudi Arabia and you may know it is an unending desert , unfortunately we do not see any such beautiful flowers growing naturally ….
But i really liked your pictures and first time I came to know about many of names
thank you for share.
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 8:51 amThanks Anna. I’ve been told the Sonoran desert is a very diverse desert because of it gets too rainy seasons – a little bit of rain in the winter and a monsoon rain in summer. This winter, there was almost no rain, so few wildflowers are blooming in the wild, although cacti are still sprouting buds. In gardens where additional water has been given, the wildflowers are gorgeous.
20Pat
March 19, 2014 at 10:23 amBeautiful flowers. My parents ranch was in the interior of BC and they had cactuses on part of it. The flowers in spring were truly gorgeous.
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 8:55 amI knew the interior of B.C. was a semi-arid zone, but I never thought about cacti growing in it. I love the flowers on cacti. The delicate petals and beautiful colours are such a contrast to the spiny body of the plants.
Terry
March 19, 2014 at 12:41 pmBeautiful pics.
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 8:52 amThanks Terry.
paul grahan
March 19, 2014 at 12:44 pmGreat shots of Spring Flkwers Donna. Certainly puts me in the mood for Spring.
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 8:55 amThanks Graham.
Jason Butler
March 19, 2014 at 1:15 pmNice pictures. Surprisingly I don’t see many signs of Spring yet here in Atlanta.
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 8:56 amI know there many places in North America where spring still seems far away. I hope you don’t have to wait long.
Susanna
March 19, 2014 at 2:26 pmLove the barrel cacti! There are certainly some beautiful plants that thrive in a desert environment
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 8:57 amI agree that there are some beautiful plants in the desert. They seem ever more amazing when you learn how they survive, propagate, and conserve water.
jacquie
March 19, 2014 at 2:56 pmOh My! This was such a beautiful sight today…it’s cold an rainy where I am. I mean…you really made my day Donna! Beautiful pictures!
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 8:57 amThanks Jacquie. The rain where you are should help with future blooms there.
Beth Niebuhr
March 19, 2014 at 5:32 pmWe visited the Garden a couple weeks ago. It’s different every time. The Chihuly exhibit was amazing too.
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 8:59 amI was also at the Garden two weeks before these pictures were taken and was struck by how much had changed in two weeks. It is truly different each time I visit. I am wintering here and taking lots of visitors because of the Chihuly exhibit.
Michele Harvey
March 19, 2014 at 8:14 pmYour blog is a breath of fresh air. The photos are beautiful. I live in Northern, Colorado. We had a January that was so extreme, I had to by a SAD light (a light for seasonal affective disorder) due to lack of natural light, which was really beginning to affect me. Now however, the sun is so bright, it almost feels like summer.
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 9:00 amHope the sunlight is helping your SAD and that spring/summer are on its way for you.
JeriWB
March 19, 2014 at 8:32 pmI love cactus blooms. Spring is a bit later than usual in Boise, but not by much. I’m headed to Santa Fe in May, so that will be a good change of scenery.
Donna Janke
March 20, 2014 at 9:00 amI too love cactus blooms. Santa Fe should be beautiful in May. Enjoy.
Linda
March 20, 2014 at 9:15 amLovely pictures, Donna and I enjoyed your commentary. You have obviously brought joy to many of your blog readers as evidenced by the comments. Have a really nice Spring day!
Max Ivey
March 20, 2014 at 4:30 pmHello; glad to hear spring is coming somewhere. smile it is still unusually cool in the houston area. but spring means bluebonnets in texas. It also will bring indian paintbrush. then the crape myrtles will blume. or at least i hope so. I’m starting to wonder. thanks for sharing. I am blind so can’t appreciate the photos. but I am sure they are beautiful and will have all of your readers thinking of spring and summer. take care, max
Susan Cooper
March 21, 2014 at 3:44 pmI LOVE your flower pictures. We too have had a very difficult winter with little rain. We are now thrown into an early spring with dead orchards and brown hills. it is a very sad state. 🙂
Christina
March 22, 2014 at 1:48 amSuch beautiful and vibrant colors which must starkly contrast the dry, monotone colors of the desert. For us in western Washington, the cherry blossoms are just starting. It’s daffodil season and the famous tulip festival starts next month and I can’t wait to go. It’s my yearly tradition 🙂
TUHIN
March 25, 2014 at 8:02 amLovely! Spring has started in this part of the world too (North east India)! After months of dry winter finally the time has come to get drenched in the rain!