Flowers

 

About the Desert Flowers

 

Visitors to the Sonoran Desert are eager to view the hillsides covered in flowers as they may have seen pictures of this scenery on postcards or calendars. Naturally, people wonder, "when is the best time to visit?" Those incredible photos are taken during years when rainfall, temperature and timing are favorable. This does not happen regularly as seasons change from year to year. In order to produce a season of wildflower superblooms, we need multiple seasons in a row of favorable conditions, which can be quite rare. Soils and terrain are also an important factor, so, with all of these variables at play, there is no perfect way to predict any year's bloom for any one place. Saguaro National Park has some flowers in bloom nearly every month of the year, and visitors can expect to see at least three flowering seasons. Just keep in mind the unpredictablity of of the timing and/or extent of blooming for these showy desert flowers.

 

Spring Flower Season (March)

The spring flower season is entirely dependent on local conditions. Here at Saguaro National Park, blooms are often best mid-late March. Soils at the park are not suited to host large displays of these flowers, but most of the flowers listed below can be found in a normal season.

 

Desert lupine

NPS photo / T. Wiewel

NAME	COLOR	TYPE
Twist Flower (Streptanthus carinatus)	White	Wildflower
Wild Zinnia (Zinnia acerosa)	White	Small Shrub
Bladderpod (Lesquerella gordonii)	Yellow	Wildflower
Fiddleneck (Amsinckia intermedia)	Yellow	Wildflower
Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata)	Yellow	Wildflower
Paper Flower (Psilostrophe cooperi)	Yellow	Small Shrub
Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa)	Yellow	Small Shrub
Gold Poppy (Eschscholtzia mexicana)	Yellow - Orange	Wildflower
Globemallow (Sphaeralcea laxa)	Orange	Wildflower
Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens)	Red	Shrub
Fairy Duster (Calliandrea eriophylla)	Pink	Small Shrub
Indigobush (Dalea pulchra)	Pink	Shrub
Parry Penstemon (Penstemon parryi)	Pink	Wildflower
Desert Verbena (Glandularia goodingii)	Purple	Wildflower
Larkspur (Delphinium parishii)	Blue	Wildflower
Desert Lupine (Lupinus sparsiflorus)	Blue	Wildflower

 

Cactus Flower Season (April - May)

More reliable in blooming, water-storing cacti put on a great display in the spring of most years. The first week in May is when you will likely find the greatest number of species in bloom at Saguaro National Park. Specifically, the saguaro cactus is often in peak bloom toward the end of May. Many shrubs and trees also bloom at this time.

 

Staghorn cholla

NPS photo / T. Wiewel

NAME	COLOR	TYPE
Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea)	White	Cactus
Teddy Bear Cholla (Opuntia bigelovii)	Green	Cactus
Prickly Pear (Opuntia phaeacantha)	Yellow	Cactus
Staghorn Cholla (Opuntia versicolor)	Yellow - Orange	Cactus
Chain Fruit Cholla (Opuntia fulgida)	Pink	Cactus
Fishhook Pincushion (Mammillaria microcarpa)	Pink	Cactus
Strawberry Hedgehog (Echinocereus fasciculatus)	Magenta	Cactus
Claret Cup (Echinocereus triglochidiatus)	Red	Cactus
Soaptree Yucca (Yucca elata)	White	Leaf succulent
Palo Verde (Cercidium spp.)	Yellow	Tree
Mesquite (Prosopis velutina)	Cream - Yellow	Tree

 

Summer Flower Season (June - September)

This season stretches throughout the hot summer months and includes a variety of plants. Good summer rains can increase late blooming of many species, and the high elevations of the Rincon Mountains harbor many summer-blooming flowers not found on the cactus forest floor.

 

Barrel cactus

NPS photo / T. Wiewel

NAME	COLOR	TYPE
Night-blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii)	White	Cactus
Desert Cotton (Gossypium thurberi)	White	Shrub
Sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri)	Cream - White	Leaf Succulent
Century Plant (Agave palmeri)	Yellow	Leaf Succulent
Desert Senna (Senna bauhinioides)	Yellow	Wildflower
Broom Snakeweed (Gutierrezia microcephala)	Yellow	Wildflower
Burroweed (Isocoma tenuisecta)	Yellow	Small Shrub
Turpentine Bush (Ericameria laricifolia)	Yellow	Shrub
Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizenii)	Yellow - Orange	Cactus