Desert Beauty

Last night, driving up the hill to teach class, I was amazed at the miles of sunny yellow flowers carpeting the desert sand. The wildflowers are profuse this season, the bushes taller than I recall seeing them in years. The lupine is also lush this year, an anomoly in the desert as it requires more humidity than other desert dwellers, but the abundance of rain this year has brought the purple blossoms to full bloom.

When the unusual yucca plants bloom, it is a sight to see: the plant itself presents as barren leaves until the huge flowering part appears on a stalk, multiple blossoms covering the stalks until they look like huge ears of corn. Again, I don't recall seeing so many yuccas in bloom in years and years, and it is a wonderous sight to behold.

The desert cacti are flowering, some of them a bright splash of red that is unexpected in the desert landscape. Others have smaller, more delicate blossoms, but it appears as if there is not a cactus not in bloom this year.

Although the desert isn't for everyone, for those of us who share it with Mother Nature, she has done her best to dress up for Spring this year.

PS: I'll take a picture of a yucca ... this weekend.