Late Spring " Flowering Desert" Smorgasbord

[Silas_Sancona]

Was on the road again earlier on a mission to refill the " Grit Tank "   and made an impromtu stop at that favorite neighborhood Oasis noticing how spring flowering " seasons" among all the various trees / etc other stuff frequently used in landscapes here seem to be overlapping a bit more than usual this year along the way.. Perhaps a direct result of all the rain, combined w/ the cool-ish start to spring but there is absolutely no  shortage of color around town this year, especially among Desert Willow. 

Combining " all of this " and  what trees start things off in Feb / March,  and the various types of trees which will be flowering soon ( Ironwood -starting now, Tipuana, soon..,  Royal Poinciana / Cassia Fistula / Plumeria / others  that will be flowering as we edge toward the Meteorological start of... / progress through summer and fall, with enough space, ...or creative planning if space is limited, one could have non stop color all year -And plenty of much welcomed shade to enjoy. 

If only i had an acre or two, lol..

Various:

Cascabela / **Formally Thevetia  ..Yellow  N' Orange forms.















Outstanding Lysiloma watsonii  specimen..  As shown in past threads, many specimens of this species are somewhat low growers that might stand out briefly when flowering, but otherwise blend in w/ everything else unless isolated. Rare to see one as tall and well formed as this.



Some flowers on another at the park.



Red Birds ( Caesalpinia pulcherrima ) gearing up.. Noticed some at the park are exhibiting some seriously maroon-colored new foliage.










Cat Claw / Gregg's Acacia, Senegalia greggii   having a great year..









Various Palo Verde " Late Bloomers ":

Some of the last X Desert Museum for the year, caught at peak bloom..









P. microphylla also at peak bloom both at the park, and out in the Desert.

















How about a Desert Museum ..and a Jacaranda.. If only the Pine between were a Royal Poinciana, ...or 2.



Common, taller Tecoma " Orange Bells "





Another Orange-flowered Tecoma variety, kept short, w/ Red Yucca to the right.



...Maybe Oleander is your thing, 😂




Vitex..

Your typical Blue..







..And a Pink one.







Randoms..









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Edited May 10, 2023 by Silas_Sancona
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[Silas_Sancona]

While they always bloom, wasn't kidding about the level of color on Desert Willow this year..  Quite the sight around town, incredible sight ( and smell ) at the park.

Yea, i could have stuck these in the Desert Willow thread, but, decided to put em' here..







































Chilopsis linearis " Snow Flurry specimens spotted again. This time planted at the Park.. At least 2.







How about a specimen whose flowers range from light, ..but obvious Pink, to White?  ...On the same tree.











Impressive year for X Chiltalpa around town too..



















 

[Hillizard]

I'm growing three colors of Chilopsis, but it's the white I really like, though it seems less vigorous than the others.

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 5/10/2023 at 10:12 PM, Hillizard said:

I'm growing three colors of Chilopsis, but it's the white I really like, though it seems less vigorous than the others.

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 Will be interesting to compare X " Snow Flurry " to some of the other, denser- flowering /growing varieties there at the Park as both of these gain size.. If either produce any this year, might have to try seed off of it also, just to see if any crosses occur between it and any of the Pink / Maroon colored specimens nearby.

[Peter]

Great color!

[Silas_Sancona]

Some neighborhood shots..


Tipuana.. Trunk is a little skinny in relation to it's Canopy but overall form is nearly perfect for a residential setting. Some bigger ones nearby i'll get shots of later. Note the Tall-ish Pygmy to the left.. Lots ( ..and lots ) of big, nice looking ( By desert standards ) specimens scattered throughout the neighborhoods in that area. Some situated where they get some shade -at some point- during the day. Others in full sun, in yards that are otherwise all gravel..



Smaller Desert Ironwood nearby





Like the Yucca ( see the Yucca Thread ) it figures that as soon as i note one, outstanding Lysiloma watsonii specimen, others start coming out of the wood work, even if a bit blurred, lol ( Shot #2 )





Jacaranda, ..or two.





Desert Willow..

Edited May 11, 2023 by Silas_Sancona
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[SailorBold]

The desert willows are beautiful.. unfortunately.. I removed mine this year. It is such a messy tree with all those quadrillion flowers falling all the time..  its a great tree!

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 5/12/2023 at 9:45 PM, SailorBold said:

The desert willows are beautiful.. unfortunately.. I removed mine this year. It is such a messy tree with all those quadrillion flowers falling all the time..  its a great tree!

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They do drop lots of Flowers, but what doesn't, lol.. I look at as free organics for the soil.  Far less ..of a mess compared to certain things like Bougainvillea for sure though.

[Silas_Sancona]

....And so it begins.. ....The season of the second-most revered and important Sonoran Desert Icon,  Desert Ironwood, Olneya tesota..  

Without it, the Sonoran Desert wouldn't be as filled with life and lush-ness as it is.

[Silas_Sancona]

Ironwood Parade..





























Neighborhood Royal Poinciana getting closer to catching fire..  Filled to the brim with buds again  ..so i guess our * extended * cool-ish / wet winter didn't bother it -at all.





Sighted a few days ago ..another decent-sized Cassia Fistula.. Still roughly a month out from flowering, but the leaves are obvious.  Not in the neighborhood, ...but not all that far away either..  Hard to see but there's also a Bottle Tree ..or what is left of one.  ( looks like it might be on the way out from looking over older pictures on street view ) behind it.

[Silas_Sancona]

Little-Leaf / Ft. Hill Palo Verde, Parkinsonia microphylla..

While the Palo Verde Parade across town has ended -for the most part anyway...  Different story out in the desert atm.  Noting ..what appeared to be an abundance of flowering for the smaller of our local sp. in the background of some news stories, and photos shared by a local storm chaser taking advantage of our ..extremely Un May-like weather this week, i figured there should be some color while roaming around yesterday..  Wasn't expecting the level of just how good of a season this year seems to be. " Big bloom "?? ..bit of an understatement.

While May is prime flowering time for the species, wasn't sure how the wet ...and extended cool- ish winter, somewhat slow warming earlier in the spring we had would effect this year's cycle ..if it negatively effected it at all...  From how things look atm, doesn't seem like those not-as-optimal conditions adversely effected anything. Very possible those earlier conditions actually helped things.

Very tough to narrow down all the shots ..so this post will be kind of long. Regardless, a stunning sight across the Hills, and Alluvial Fans just below the hills to the east of town right now..  Can't remember the last time there was this level of super bloom. 

***Added bonus( -es) in some shots: some very late June / early July-like desert scenes complete with a fairly thirsty looking landscape, w/ towering storm clouds building and lurking over the eastern horizon, awaiting something to push them west to bring relief the foothills and valleys below,  ..and a random ..and spectacular Ocotillo specimen growing in the median near the entrance to the trail access area to Picketpost Mountain, just west of Boyce Thompson Arboretum along the U.S. 60.

[Silas_Sancona]

A few " habitat Ironwood " from the final stop last Wednesday..  Seems they're running a touch behind schedule out in the desert in some areas, while right on time in other areas this year.

Since they were pretty close to the trail head, I'd wanted to get a bit closer to some of the specimens on the hillside in the wider shots here but by the time i landed at this stop for the day,  afternoon sun said ..no way,  lol. 











Another small-ish, but decent specimen at a nearby park.







Tipuana  Sunshine

















Yard Tree, showing it's potential..





Havardia pallens " Sierra Sparkler "   Smaller to medium-sized tree that should be planted much more than it is..  Several specimens in this particular area, though most are wayy over trimmed and don't look near as nice as the bigger /  fuller ones pictured.







Checking on the neighborhood Royal Poinciana earlier  ..We have lift off   ..and plenty of probably mature seedpods.



G. coulteri   at the old house..