Desert Flowers

It was our, well, mine anyway, intention yesterday to check out what was blooming in the desert. And we did stop to take a few pictures while we were still in the Valley of the Sun. As we got up to higher colder altitudes, we did not see much blooming.

There were several patches of penstemons (Penstemon pseudospectabilis) alongside the road --

A member of the figwort family, the penstemon variety in the Arizona desert sports a rose-purple hue.

Nearby was a Fairyduster (Calliandra eriophylla) shrub. Also known as False Mesquite, it has very dainty, feathery pink blooms --

Later we began to see patches of yellow and bunches of Desert Marigolds --

Desert multiradiata  is said to be one of the commonest bloomers gracing the desert roadsides  --

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I am looking forward to more desert explorations in the next few weeks. The Sonoran Desert is truly a treasure of flowers in the spring.