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| Above a deep arroyo west of Tortugas Mountain |
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| Yuccas just west of the mountain slope |
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| Small Yucca forest west of Tortugas |
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| Torrey Yucca flowers |
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| Keeping a watchful eye |
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| Rolling desert |
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| On the Crosscut Trail |
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| At least 50 flowers on this old Ocotillo |
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| Military vehicles on the road to Centennial High School |
5 comments:
Packrat: It's been raining all day today (Tuesday) and we're supposed to dip a bit below freezing tonight--which only makes sense because the star magnolias planted around my house are in full and fabulous bloom and the frost will put a quick end to the show. This exact scenario (of a frost occurring during peak bloom) occurs four years out of five, so it's what I expect. While the magnolias survive just fine, they are actually planted too far north and suffer this loss of flowers more often than not.
I hate when that happens, Scott. Once in a while it occurs in the desert, too, and I lament the disappearance of beautiful blossoms. Here's something that bothers me a lot: when our Desert Willow has completely flowered and the strong spring winds come along to denude it. But the flower petals on the ground are a cornucopia of delight for desert cottontails and jackrabbits who literally feast on the delicacies.
Same sort of thing (your willow windthrow bounty) occurred this winter here. As you know, we had a very challenging winter with lots of snow that prevented the deer and rabbits from gaining access to food, most of which was buried deeply under the white stuff. But, the early February ice storm brought down lots of tree branches (especially pine boughs), and the deer feasted. It may have been the only thing that got them through the winter (where they didn't have access to birdseed).
So what were those military vehicles doing there, I wonder.
Scott: At least the February ice storm was good for something, and if it got the deer through the winter, Bravo!
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