Sonoran Desert as Garden

Yesterday I went hiking in White Tank Mountain Regional Park, a few miles west of Phoenix. Since winter rainfall in Phoenix was officially about normal this year, I expected to find decent flowers, but in the southern part of the park they were much better than that...that area was a garden! Rainfall in the desert is very localized, and perhaps this spot picked up more moisture than others, because the flowers were delightfully profuse. The dominant color was yellow, from the brittlebushes pictured here and also from poppies, but there were many other types of flowers as well.

This is an absolutely typical stretch of the trail I hiked, lined with poppies and brittlebush.

The poppies were thick, with the rocky landscape providing a contrast to the lushness of the blooms.

Owls clover was also abundant; it needs perhaps a little more rainfall than the poppies and can be scarce in the desert, but not in this area! The entire hike was superb, an immersion in the peace and beauty of the desert at the best possible time of year. The weather was perfect too, about 80 degrees with a cool upcanyon breeze. A fabulous day!