Enjoying the Desert Spring

Spring has come early to the desert and all the cacti are in bloom. Usually, we don’t see flowers until early April, followed by a staggered approach with one variety blooming, then the next (e.g., strawberry hedgehog, then prickly pear, then cholla, etc.) . This year they all seem to be blooming at the same time. Flowers that usually don’t bloom until May are blooming now.  The desert is sprinkled with color, in a variety of yellows, pinks, oranges and reds, and it is gorgeous.

Orange flower and buds on a prickly pear cactus.

Yellow flowers on this prickly pear cactus contrast nicely with the purple paddles.

Claret Cactus Bloom – My current favorite.

Since most of the flowers only open their blossoms when the sun is on them, it means shooting them when the light is at its harshest.  A little less than perfect.

Another option would be to wait to an overcast or hazy day, but this is the desert. If we wait for cloud cover, we could be waiting quite a long time (like months).

Yellow Barrel Cactus flower, captured in our front yard

Rich pink blossoms on a prickly pear cactus

So instead of waiting for a cloudy day which may never come, we thought we share a few photos now.

Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus Bloom

Late afternoon in the desert. A Prickly Pear in bloom.

Enjoy!