Hints of Spring ..Part 2?..

[Silas_Sancona]

Thanks to our ..winter not winter..  and the warm rains during September and early October here this year,  one could say " spring ",  in the yards at least,  started right around Thanksgiving, last year.   

Now that actual Spring is less than a month away ( using the Meteorological rule, as always, of course ) what hadn't started flowering before  the start of the year is proceeding through wave #2 of the early spring acts on stage at the moment,  while wave #1 matures and starts going to seed. 

While a few are hanging on, majority of the " Fall Season "  Zinnia are finally starting to fade out. 

While a basically dry  and ..dare i say ..hot.. " winter "  thwarted a good display of them in the front lawn,  Baby Blue Eyes i'd scattered out there are trying their best to flower.  






Beyond the yards, earlier flowering form of Sweet Acacia,  Mex. Yellow Birds,  and many Cascalote can be found still in bloom around the neighborhood. 

Going by the current forecasts over the next 3 weeks or so,  anticipate the rest of the Sweet Acacia, and TX Mtn Laurel across the street may start their cycle ahead of schedule, perhaps by months end ..if not sooner. 

Regardless,  Absolutely NO shortage of color around the yards..  ...With more to come when Spring arrives. 

Randoms..

















Lupinus sparsiflorus    ..L. nanus and texanus are starting to bolt atm, suggesting they'll be flowering shortly.. 















Salvia columbariae,   Chia..





Erythrostemon palmeri   ..Cycle 2 since the end of November.  Should barely be starting it's first flower cycle for the year right now.  




Opuntia basilaris = First signs of flowers to come. 






Parry's Penstemon and Russelia equisetiformis.  Baja Ruellia ( R. californica / peninsularis ) still in full bloom atm as well..




Eriogonum fasciculatum ssp.,  AZ native form of CA Buckwheat.. Typically see flowers starting to open on these in  ..late March.. Butterfly visitor is Strymon melinus, Gray Hairstreak.. Which are active quite early already.






Lippia gravolens, Mexican Oregano. 



Anisacanthus andersonii, one of the few things sticking to it's flowering season so far this year.. 





Checking on some of the seed trials...


5 out of 6 Coulter Pine seed germinated? ..not a bad outcome..





CA Sagebrush,  coming along nicely.. 




While most literature suggests the species probably won't like our heat,  decided to trial a single good ( Weevil free ) Acorn i'd collected off a Coast Live Oak near the Greystone hills area to test that idea for myself.    Probably develop it as a bonsai specimen,  ...if.. it actually can handle our heat. 




Now that the sun angle / day length is increasing,  and temps will only increase from here onward,  now is the perfect time for trial batches of Cochlospermum / Amoreuxia  palmatifida  seed off my plants,  and seed off my self fertile Bursera fageroides,  harvested and planted as each of the fruits finish ripening on the tree. 

...If even half of the seed it produced this year are fertile and successfully germinate,   i'll have 24 seedlings to play around with.

Indoor - started Mex. Oregano cutting trials are up next.  



..Onward, to Spring, '26 

[Silas_Sancona]

With temps headed for the 90s this week / winter 25 -26 in the bag,  ..figure it is time for an update..


When the Phacelia are all but done for the season,  Glandularia gooddingii steps in fill the " blue / violet flowering thing " space on stage.  






On a side note, ..as much as i love 'em,  decided that this will be the last year i grow out extensive plots of both Phacelia sps i've had going..  

As attractive, and valuable foraging for early native rising bees as both are, many species of the Genus hide a not so pleasant " gift " when one brushes up against them ..or,  in my case,  goes to remove them from planting beds as they fade out for the season / trim and harvest for seed.. 

Essentially, ..if you're sensitive to compounds produced by Poison Oak / Ivy,  you may be sensitive to similar, sticky / oily compounds these plants produce that can cause similar rashes on the skin. 

After a few weeks of itchy hands / arms ..and other places where the oily residue these plants produced touched while clearing them out,    i decided that   ..while i won't eliminate them completely,  i will shift these out of the main bed out front,  adding in more Lupinus  for the " blue / purple " end of the color spectrum out there. 

Of the two species, seems P. crenulata, Notch -leaved Phacelia,  may possess more of these itch -inducing compounds than P. campanularia..  

Speaking of Lupinus,  one of just a couple L. douglasii that managed to survive a very dry winter..  TX. bluebonnets that also held up thru the winter should be doing their thing shortly.  Locally native L. sparsiflorus are just about done for the year..





Penstemon parryi w/ Ruellia californica / peninsularis in the background..  It hasn't stopped flowering since ....October..  






What freshly opened seed on Bursera fageroides ( ...and the majority of other Bursera sps )  looks like when the fleshy, outer shell opens and exposes the neon, Red Orange Aril - covered seed ( An evolutionary strategy of attracting birds )








While it has been shedding seed here and there for several weeks,  w / the heat kicking in, expect all the remaining seed to be ready to harvest / plant out soon.  




I'd say  the kick off to " Cactus Season 2026 " is about to get underway but,  ..whatever sp of Stenocactus it is i have started flowering about 2 weeks ago..  

Beaver Tails and  " old enough to bloom " Hedgehogs  ( Echinocereus ) are up next.  





You know it has been a warm winter when -any- Adenium  starts flowering  ..in February..   This kid is sitting in more shade atm so it flowering, already,  is a bit more of a surprise and a testament to just how warm this winter has been..





Locally native form of CA. Buckwheat with neon Orange Cape Daisies in the background. 





Darker colored form of Calliandra eriophylla,  second flowering since the start of the year.. 






Aristolochia watsonii,  off to the races, already.. 





That pretty, blue violet  Mandevilla seemingly much happier w/ conditions thru the winter rather during the summer.






Clitoria mariana  awakening quite early this year.. 




I'd mentioned elsewhere how the Plumeria would likely start moving earlier than is typical this year.   Well, as you can see,   .." pushing off dried out leaf attempts " is the first sign of awakening from their winter naps..  





The rewards of using Sulfur powder to save injured specimens..  New growth will pop from dormant buds in the leaf scars in view.. 







On a bench,  inside..

Artemisia californica  trial coming along nicely..






Same with the Cochlospermum palmatifida  trial..  Potted up the next batch of seed last night.. Plan is having some to plant out around the yards, and some that i can keep in a large pot ..for seed. 




On a side note,  ..What the roots of a true " Devilish Blonde " look like..  










last October, carefully removed all the 2yr old potted specimens and installed them out front.  During one of those " complete idiot " moments, i completely forgot to mark where i dropped them in the ground so, fingers crossed, they'll pop once the heat really kicks in.     Emphasize carefully..  roots are easily damaged, which can lead to them completely rotting.     So touchy you are,  Blondie. 😁

When large enough to plant out, some of the Cochlospermum  will join them in the same beds. 



Pappophorum vaginatum  after com pot separation.. First few weeks after separating / transplanting = always a touchy time with young native grasses..




Due to how popular they seem to be with those i have shared them with,  and because the mother plant may be nearing the end of her productive life span,  starting more Ital. Long Peppers.. 



Likely not the only pepper grown this year either.  

 

[Gardner]

Great pictures, thanks

[ChrisA]

Really great post Nathan. Thank you! 
 

I lived in Phoenix briefly in the winter/spring of ‘98 and fell in love with the variety of plants that were flowering there then. Parry’s Penstemon is one of the most amazing of all the penstemons. I remember the beautiful Desert Bluebells as well. Seems the heat of the desert regions doesn’t often allow for any blue flowers but the Sonoran Desert has that stunner during the cooler season. I was unaware of their toxic properties, that is unfortunate.

Simply put, if you enjoy deserts and don’t mind the heat southern Arizona and the Phoenix area is stunning. I look forward to another visit. Thanks for sparking my memories!

[Mazat]

On 2/4/2026 at 5:02 AM, Silas_Sancona said:

Thanks to our ..winter not winter..  and the warm rains during September and early October here this year,  one could say " spring ",  in the yards at least,  started right around Thanksgiving, last year.   

Now that actual Spring is less than a month away ( using the Meteorological rule, as always, of course ) what hadn't started flowering before  the start of the year is proceeding through wave #2 of the early spring acts on stage at the moment,  while wave #1 matures and starts going to seed. 

While a few are hanging on, majority of the " Fall Season "  Zinnia are finally starting to fade out. 

While a basically dry  and ..dare i say ..hot.. " winter "  thwarted a good display of them in the front lawn,  Baby Blue Eyes i'd scattered out there are trying their best to flower.  






Beyond the yards, earlier flowering form of Sweet Acacia,  Mex. Yellow Birds,  and many Cascalote can be found still in bloom around the neighborhood. 

Going by the current forecasts over the next 3 weeks or so,  anticipate the rest of the Sweet Acacia, and TX Mtn Laurel across the street may start their cycle ahead of schedule, perhaps by months end ..if not sooner. 

Regardless,  Absolutely NO shortage of color around the yards..  ...With more to come when Spring arrives. 

Randoms..

















Lupinus sparsiflorus    ..L. nanus and texanus are starting to bolt atm, suggesting they'll be flowering shortly.. 















Salvia columbariae,   Chia..





Erythrostemon palmeri   ..Cycle 2 since the end of November.  Should barely be starting it's first flower cycle for the year right now.  




Opuntia basilaris = First signs of flowers to come. 






Parry's Penstemon and Russelia equisetiformis.  Baja Ruellia ( R. californica / peninsularis ) still in full bloom atm as well..




Eriogonum fasciculatum ssp.,  AZ native form of CA Buckwheat.. Typically see flowers starting to open on these in  ..late March.. Butterfly visitor is Strymon melinus, Gray Hairstreak.. Which are active quite early already.






Lippia gravolens, Mexican Oregano. 



Anisacanthus andersonii, one of the few things sticking to it's flowering season so far this year.. 





Checking on some of the seed trials...


5 out of 6 Coulter Pine seed germinated? ..not a bad outcome..





CA Sagebrush,  coming along nicely.. 




While most literature suggests the species probably won't like our heat,  decided to trial a single good ( Weevil free ) Acorn i'd collected off a Coast Live Oak near the Greystone hills area to test that idea for myself.    Probably develop it as a bonsai specimen,  ...if.. it actually can handle our heat. 




Now that the sun angle / day length is increasing,  and temps will only increase from here onward,  now is the perfect time for trial batches of Cochlospermum / Amoreuxia  palmatifida  seed off my plants,  and seed off my self fertile Bursera fageroides,  harvested and planted as each of the fruits finish ripening on the tree. 

...If even half of the seed it produced this year are fertile and successfully germinate,   i'll have 24 seedlings to play around with.

Indoor - started Mex. Oregano cutting trials are up next.  



..Onward, to Spring, '26 

Wonderful pictures, as always, Nathan.

[Silas_Sancona]

On 2/27/2026 at 5:54 AM, ChrisA said:

Really great post Nathan. Thank you! 
 

I lived in Phoenix briefly in the winter/spring of ‘98 and fell in love with the variety of plants that were flowering there then. Parry’s Penstemon is one of the most amazing of all the penstemons. I remember the beautiful Desert Bluebells as well. Seems the heat of the desert regions doesn’t often allow for any blue flowers but the Sonoran Desert has that stunner during the cooler season. I was unaware of their toxic properties, that is unfortunate.

Simply put, if you enjoy deserts and don’t mind the heat southern Arizona and the Phoenix area is stunning. I look forward to another visit. Thanks for sparking my memories!

 Chris..   Glad to re-hash a few good memories..  

Will say that if you haven't been out here / visited either PHX or Tucson at all  since you left,  ..You're in for a pretty big shock, esp. up this way..  

Would never know it now but, from what everyone who has lived here for decades has told me,  Chandler itself was nothing but pasture and Ag fields up until sometime in the early 2ks..  Even within the time i've been here, what patches of remaining Ag and pasture land was left is pretty much gone.  While passing through it not too long ago, hardly recognized a section of Queen Creek i'd pass through daily when i worked out there. 

Used to seeing an area grow rapidly development - wise but, pretty eye opening how quickly that occurs here. 


Agree, 100%,  ..if one's idea of the state's habitats is narrowly confined to the single, general assumption of the area,  they're missing out on a lot of incredible scenery and plant / animal diversity,  esp. the further south you travel.  While a lot of folks would pick areas north / northeast of PHX,  up on the Rim as their favorite parts of the state, mine would encompass an area that essentially sits south of the 60 from South Mountain to Globe, then follows the San Pedro River,  down to Sierra Vista and into Mexico. 

Everything between Tucson, Nogales and Sierra Vista is unforgettable,  esp. when taken in during a wet summer when everything is lush and very green.. Madera Canyon / Huachucas  don't seem like they belong in a " desert " state.



Regarding Blue flowered things here,  .. Agree, definitely interesting that,  majority -wise,  seems many of the plants you'll see here possess flower colors centered somewhere within the warm end of the spectrum,  vs. those that are blue / purple.   That said, overall,  legit, blue flowered things are a rarity ..compared to other flower colors. 

That said,  Look around enough and you'll still find a good amount of native stuff that has Blue / Purple flowers though..   Majority of your Lupinus, Phacelia, & Eriastrum,  ..most of the Mirablis,  What Day Flower / Spiderwort  ( Commelina ) sps occur in the state,   Dalea and Psorothamnus,   Evolvulus, Solanum, Quincula, and Ipomoea,  Amsonia,  locally native things in the Verbena fam / other stuff in that family from Sonora / Silaloa and Baja ( specifically Citharexylum flabellum and affine ) Ruellia,  and Salvia,   a few Pentemon sps that extend north across the border from Mexico,  ..2 or 3 sps of Ipomopsis,  and our highly uncommon Pleat-Leaf sp,  Nemastylis tenuis.

No doubt i'm probably forgetting other stuff that grows up on...   ..or North / east... of the Rim / White Mtns. 

Add in stuff like Vitex mollis,  Guiacum coulteri,  Tropical Royalblue Water Lily ( Nymphaea elegans )  and Lonchocarpus hermanii   .. just to name a few..   from just south of us,   + other stuff native to areas east of the Sierra Madre Occidental that will grow here and ..that's a pretty decent list of choices of  locally / regionally native plants that produce flower colors at the cooler end of the spectrum,  all year,  or during specific seasons  ..depending on where one lives / what kind of landscape they set up of course. 

As far as Phacelia is concerned,  i myself find their little " gift "  more of a minor detail than a big deal..  Poison Oak -esque effect doesn't last long ..personal tolerance to it of course..   and the wildlife benefits out weigh the " not so great " cons.  

As you mention,  bold,  Blue colored things aren't exactly a common sight out here either so,  ..worth it,  as long as you know what can come with growing them. 



As long as you keep them out of areas where kids /pets,  ..or anyone highly sensitive to the effects can easily access them, there's no reason not to include them in with the spring flowering annual stuff.  Let them dry out before raking  their dead bodies out of a bed and the oils that can cause the rash are less present.  ..what i've noticed anyway. 



Agree,  ..Parry's Penstemon is our #1 ..the #1 Penstemon choice for hot / dry areas,  mo of course..    Can't really ask for an easier spring flowering perennial that laughs off our heat ..Most of the time..   and puts on such a show.   Irresistible to both Hummingbirds and Sphinx Moths..  Literally watched one of our neighborhood Hummingbirds swoop in and harass / chase off a Sphinx i was getting shots of that was zipping between flowers on one of the patches of P. parryi and Baja Ruellia nearby.. Poor Moth, lol..  Kind of funny watching the hummingbird chirping at the moth before charging at it though.

Un-confirmed but thinking i have crosses between parryi and superbus in the bigger group of plants out back as well..  From what iv'e seen, parryi is typically some deg. of Magenta end Pink..  P. superbus tends to lean Red or Orange -ish.  Individual flowers are held differently between the two as well w/ parryi being more " lazy " / less arranged in defined tiers compared to superbus. 

I'd grown plenty of parry out front, some popping up near the superbus i had out there so.. 

What i believe is a cross w/ superbus, compared to what looks like the typical parryi.. Note the larger flower size, lighter overall color / orange - toned buds / tighter flower whorls.  

Poss. cross..





typical parryi.. i believe..




Two side by side..  Some other inflos in this group but hard to get them al in for a shot.



Aside from the two mentioned, big fan of P. palmeri, barbatus ( Beard lip ) thurberi, ambiguus, dasyphyllus, and spectabilis,   and some of the Mex. sps ( P amphorellae, gentainoides, and campanulatus )

Some great,  blue flowered sps from the Rockies / Sierras and Great Basin but don't think they'd last all that long in hotter / drier areas. 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Next set of actors on the " Spring Season "  Botanical Stage :

Vachellia farinesia  starting to really kick into gear after several hot days.. Flowering enough now that the scent will waft across the street at night from time to time. 






A muchly subdued " Grape Soda Season "..  Could be the hot winter,  Could be the lack of rains but   ..while they are blooming,  overall, this years' show isn't as great as others for the TX Mtn Laurel across the street / elsewhere around the neighborhood. 
















Bursera fageroides  continuing to take it's time shedding seed. 



 ..while it and B. silviae,  from the pacific section of Oaxaca in far southern Mexico,  start showing signs of awakening form their winter naps.  Will be interesting to see if it ( B. silviae ) has an enhanced flowering cycle this year.  Can't remember which year it was but,  after a similarly mild winter,  it exploded with flowers.  Much more than it has in subsequent years. 

Wet looking branch tips = good sign these trees ..the ones that go nekked for the winter, will be leafing out shortly.





Uncarina peltata  awakening  ...about 3 - 4 weeks ahead of schedule. 





Adenium x also responding to the heat.  Other specimen next to it has started moving again as well. 







Clitoria mariana = Love that blood red, new foliage. 





As with the winter / dry season - dormant Bursera,  Wet / glossy looking stem / branch tips = next step in Plumeria awakening from their naps..  Watching the second carefully since,  if  ..what looks like a hint of inflo formation to come is legit,    it would the first of the seedling plants to attempt flowering. 







 Erythrostemon palmeri responding as expected to this weeks'  heat







Penstemon palmeri and Oenothera pallida trial plots coming along nicely.. 




weird how they are much further along than the P. palmeri  i planted against an east facing wall, that gets sun earlier than the plants  planted in the back bed that gets sun until it descends over the back wall. 



Fingers crossed but,  this attempt at growing ..which ever.. Asclepias species i'd collected down south is looking like it might succeed.




Wild Sunflowers should be in bloom ..shortly..   Senna polyantha,  currently hidden behind the Sunflowers, is also starting to move. 





While it won't be a great year for these TX natives either,  at least this years batch of Lupinus texanus  made it   ..Most of 'em, lol.