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

A colorful artsy Sunday

Mary Sherwood is a fabulous local glass artist who I met last year when she was exhibiting at an art walk. Yesterday I went to the opening of her solo show at the DeGrazia Gallery In the Sun where she is exhibiting for the next two weeks at the Little Gallery.

Her clothes are as colorful as her art!!!

Here's the other post I did about her at the art walk:

art-walk-color-splash.html

This is the adobe gallery where she's exhibiting. It was built by the artist Ted DeGrazia from the earth that surrounds it and is infused with artistic touches, like the rectangles in the walls that let the sun shine through colored glass. The picture below is what it looks like from inside the gallery.

DeGrazia's compound is a work of art itself, including the grounds full of native plants like the yellow brittlebush that's in full bloom.

The fireplace is in the softly colored living room of the little adobe house he built and lived in with his wife.

I left reluctantly, but next stop was La Encantada shopping center where I went to get my glasses adjusted and discovered some beautiful art murals by local artist Diana Madaras. Click on the signs to make them bigger if you have trouble reading it.

Her paintings were in the perfect setting at La Encantada, with its own arches, desert hued walls and spectacular bougainvillea in cobalt blue pots.

It was an inspirational day!

Have a colorful day

Linda's too short visit

My friend Linda flew into town this week to escape the gloomy cold weather in the Northwest for a few days. We started where I start most of my company, at Guadalahara's because it's bursting with color and good Mexican food. And they make salsa to order from a cart by your table.

She's a fellow quilter and fabric artist, so of course we stopped at a quilt shop. She bought  these beautiful ribbons to use in a pillow to go with a bed quilt that she's making.

Since fabric shopping makes you hungry I asked what she felt like snacking on. She said DONUTS! So I put donut shops into my navigation and it led us to BoSa Donuts about a mile away. Oh my were they delicious. And it's open until 9 PM so you don't have to get there early in the morning like most donut shops.

Then I took her to the Happy Saguaro, which carries crafts from Mexico. She bought this beautiful wool weaving of birds.

In the same shopping center is Nest In the Desert, a home decor shop where we took our picture reflected in a mirror. They had a spectacular huge fake bougainvillea that I wanted, but it was $400.

The prickly pear lemonade was at another gift shop. Notice the saying: "When the mountains turn pink, it's time for a drink!" And the mountains really do turn pink just before sunset, like the picture below.

I took her hiking in Catalina State Park so she could see the wildflowers. We had to cross over a few streams, but there were stepping stones to use. Here's Linda assessing the situation before crossing.

 

Another place I like to take visitors is the Tucson Botanical Gardens, and I lucked out and scored two free passes at the library. Can you believe this canopy of trees is in the desert? The prickly pear cactus below is called Bunny Ears.

We visited some friends of Linda's one afternoon and spotted this fan palm near the community pool with big glossy clusters of fruit.

Her friend's husband took a picture of us and used AI to turn us into a cartoon, which I liked better than the original!

I sent it to my kids and my son shot back with another AI version giving us hats and pets. Linda's visit was really fun but too short!

Have a colorful day