Easter in the Desert

One of the joys of living in the desert is spending the day looking for wildflowers in the spring and when you find them it's like finding those eggs at Easter.  You never quite know where they'll be and it's always a pleasant surprise when you do find them.  Spotting these beavertail cactus blossoms under an ocotillo was like finding a bunch of dyed eggs at one time.

"Easter in the Desert"   © Kathy Dunham 2010

Ocotillo

If you've never been to the desert after a  rainy spring then you've missed the the transformation of the skinny, almost dead looking, Ocotillo.  Most of the year it has brown, stick like branches reaching upwards to 20 feet in the air.  But after a rain, brigh greem leaves sprout along the entire lenght of the each branch and at the tips, these bright red-orange flowers pop out.  Just be careful of the sharp spines under those deep green leaves.


"Ocotillo"    © Kathy Dunham 2010

Ocotillo Buds

Even though it's 100 degrees today we still have spring blossoms. These Ocotillo buds were growing in a wash in the Anza-Borrego desert. In dry conditions these tall, spindly plants look like a bunch of dead sticks loaded with thorns. But when it rains they sprout little green leaves all over their branches and get these red-orange blossoms on the tips.

"Ocotillo Buds" © Kathy Dunham 2009