Desert wildflowers gone wild!

Poppies 

We're having a bumper crop of wildflowers this year in the Sonoran Desert around Tucson due to our good winter rainfall and warm temps. I've rounded up some of what's out there on the hiking trails for you to see.

Lupin and Santa Catalina Mountains

Queen butterfly and lupin

Purple Owl's Clover

Bristly Fiddleneck

Yellow Salsify

Brittlebush, which also lines the roads throughout Tucson in big golden clumps.

Brittlebush, prickly pear, saguaro

Field of poppies

Poppies, lupin and owl's clover

The desert is also incredibly green this time of year! This is in Catalina State Park, my favorite hiking area.

I don't know what type of grass this is, but it positively glows in the sun!

You'd never guess that this is the desert, but the Sonoran Desert is the lushest desert in the world due to our powerful summer monsoons and gentler winter rains, also known as the male and female rains.

Because of the winter rains, the water is flowing in areas that are normally dry much of the year. This is also Catalina State Park.

Lately I've been doing some solo hikes where I wander along the streams and find a nice rock where I can sit and listen to the water away from other hikers.

And I can't do a desert post without mentioning the saguaros, my favorite desert plant of all! They twist and turn into fantastical shapes. Even when dead like the one below, their skeletons are striking.

Have a colorful day