A Desert Path

 

This image illustrates the huge variety of plants that there are in the desert. The media often depicts the desert as barren of vegetation but I was always amazed at the huge number of plants, especially cactus, tht grow in the Arizona Sonora Desert. There are places where few plants grow, but you can always find a variety. Unfortunately, as in the case with the rest of the world, extreme drought will kill some of the cactus and other plants. A recent huge fire in Arizona killed thousands of mature saguaro plants, the desert icon. As this is posted, we have been suffering from smoke from fires in California. From my years of observing the desert and the mountains, it feels like we are at a tipping point in our climate and that the fall has already started and probably will not stop. 

A Mourning Dove

 

For most of my life, I woke up hearing the mournful cry of the mourning dove. It is one of the comforting sounds of the desert country and is unmistakable. Here is a short explanation of these lovely birds from Wikipedia: Mourning dove.

The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the dove family, Columbidae. The bird is also known as the American mourning dove, the rain dove, and colloquially as the turtle dove, and was once known as the Carolina pigeon and Carolina turtledove. It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also a leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and for meat. Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure is due to its prolific breeding; in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods of two young each in a single year. The wings make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, a form of sonation. The bird is a strong flier, capable of speeds up to 88 km/h (55 mph). It is the national bird of the British Virgin Islands.

Extraordinary Flowers

 

Some cactus go way beyond the ordinary with large, beautifully colored flowers. As I have said in the past, one thing I miss about moving from the low desert to the high desert is cactus. 

Summer Sunflowers

 

Are sunflowers a wildflower, a weed, an annual, garden flowers, or a cash crop? It is obvious that they are all of these things. Of course, the plants that are grown in fields for their seeds are not the same as the ones growing by the side of the road but it is the diversity that makes the beautiful in all the locations where they grow. 

Yellow Flowers on an Agave

 

Some of my early childhood memories living in Phoenix, Arizona includes having a large, tangled stand of agaves between our house and the neighbor's house to the south. The yellow in this image are flowers that have fallen from a paloverde tree. This lovely plant is located in the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, Arizona. 

Beauty All Around

 

Succulent plants come in all sorts of lovely shapes. This image contains both agaves, which are not cactus, and some cactus. As always, the never ending variety of plants amazes me to no end. 

Green in the Desert

 

Deserts are usually depicted as barren. The Arizona Sonora Desert has quite a bit of vegetation especially along the washes where water accumulates during the infrequent storms. This is Picket Post Mountain from the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.