A Celebration of Spring

Last month, I talked about the Bougainvillea as being a fitting symbol of rebirth. Perhaps the local plants read the article because they have just outdone themselves! Our winter in Cave Creek, Arizona, was extremely mild. Even though we had snow for about 2 hours one day, it didn’t stick, and we had quite a bit of rain followed by temperate weather. The result has been that not only the Bougainvillea, but other trees and shrubs are budding and blooming energetically and enthusiastically!!

For Plant of the Month for March, I am just going to share some pictures of the new growth I enjoyed in March and April as the desert plants woke up from our version of winter. I’m going to begin with the Bougainvillea.

Last month, I had to use mostly stock photos to illustrate the beauty of the Bougainvillea blooms because our local plants were pretty sad looking . . .

This month, the plants are full of bracts and flowers and seem to grow a foot taller each week.

The November Plant of the Month was the Ocotillo. It definitely went through winter looking pretty much like old sticks, but starting in February, it started to leaf out and now is sporting the flame-shaped blossoms that are favorites of our local hummingbirds.

My first Plant of the Month was the Palo Verde tree. When fall came, it lost all its leaves and was just graceful green branches.

The Palo Verde began to leaf out and bloom in early February and some were covered in yellow blossoms throughout March. We are moving into the season of yellow snow.

Another featured POTM was the Prickly Pear cactus. This year, they started budding out before the end of March, and in Phoenix, some were blooming by mid-April. The ones I saw at the Desert Botanical Garden were loaded with buds, so the blossoms should be spectacular soon.

Wherever I go, I see another plant with buds or flowers – some I never noticed before I started writing this blog. Everywhere I look, things are beginning to bloom.

When I first moved from Oregon to Arizona, some of my friends prophesied that I would miss the change of seasons, especially the rebirth of color in the spring. While it is true that we don’t have quite the barrenness of winter frost and snow for contrast, still spring comes to the desert in colorful blooms and new growth just as joyously as it comes to more northern climes – and with a lot less wear and tear on those who live here. Some like it easy!