Spring in the Desert Southwest

I'm kicking it in the desert southwest. This has not been a great flower year so far...the winter was rather cold, so the blooms are late. They should wind up being rather prolific in Cali, where a lot of rain has fallen, but it's been drier in Arizona so the season may be mediocre. Still, there's some color. This is a Chia flower in Joshua Tree NP.

A fine chuparosa in JTNP.

Macro shot of a desert dandelion. I'll go thru JTNP again next week...the flowers will probably be much more numerous than they were on March 18, when this pic was taken.

A cristate saguaro in White Tank Mountain Regional Park, west of Phoenix. The crested top is a growth anomaly that is very rare. However, this is one of two within about a mile and a half of each other in the park.

The only cacti I saw blooming in White Tank last week were hedgehogs...this is the best one of the lot, and quite a good one indeed.