Flower power in the desert!

The saguaro cactuses are really putting on a show this spring, with thousands of buds and flowers sprouting from the tall plants. People in Tucson are saying there seem to be way more flowers than usual this year, and experts are speculating that stress from our long drought is causing them to go into a reproductive flurry.

Here's a link to an article about the blooms: article_d59a3126-93bd-11ea-8fa6-53ac5b2a3e5f.html

The beautiful white flowers only last a day, typically opening at dusk and wilting by the next afternoon. Nevertheless, my hikes over the past few weeks show no shortage of flowers. Each saguaro can produce up to 100 blooms. I took these photos at Catalina State Park just 10 minutes from my house.

The peak bloom is from early May through early June, but the show started in April this year. The flowers are pollinated by bees, moths, hummingbirds, white-winged doves and bats.

Once a saguaro flower is pollinated, it matures into fruit that splits open when ripened, revealing bright red pulp. Each piece of fruit contains about 2,000 small black seeds, which give it a nutty flavor. 

The fruit is harvested in June and July and can be eaten raw or boiled and strained to make a sweet syrup. Saguaro fruit used to be a main food for the Pima and Papago Native American tribes, who dried, fermented and preserved it for year-round consumption (and some still do). It's rich in Vitamin C, B12 and fiber and has great hydrating qualities.

But be sure to get written permission before heading out to harvest the fruit, because saguaros are protected under the Arizona Native Plant Law. In fact, they're the state flower. (These two fruit photos are via Pinterest.)

Saguaros aren't the only cactuses to be putting on a brilliant show this year. Here are some other cactus flowers that I photographed in the last few weeks in and around Tucson:

Have a colorful day