Spring is here and so are the wildflowers, but the two big questions: how colorful will this season be and where can I go to see the flowers?
With a rather dry winter across the state there was some concern about the wildflower bloom but there is still plenty of varieties out there right now.
“Poppies, Lupine, Desert Blue Bell, Globemallow, Blackfoot Daisies, Desert Verbena and Brittle Bush. Some of the other perennials plants, you will see Penstemon, Desert Marigold, and those are also blooming at this time,” said Angelica Elliott, the program development manager at the Desert Botanical Garden.
However, those of us in Arizona will likely not see the solid fields of wildflowers like in years past due to the lack of rain this winter.
The rain conditions have to be just right to see a full bloom.
“At least an inch of rain per month beginning in October and last until March, we get those spectacular displays of wildflowers all throughout the desert,” Elliott said.
Even though not a dense field of flowers, right now, some of the best spots to view wildflowers are out in the Superstitions, South Mountain, in the north part of the Valley around Daisy Mountain, near Canyon Lake and the Salt River area.
But you will want to head out before it gets too hot.
“As soon as it gets to 90 to 100 they start to go to seed,” Elliott said.
If you are out looking for wildflowers you might run across another annual spectacle.
“Right now our cacti are beginning to bloom,” Elliott said.
The black spine prickly pear, hedgehog, beavertail cactus and several others are currently in bloom. But if you are waiting to see the saguaro cactus flowers you will have to wait until May and don’t blink once you see the bloom.
“They open up at night and then they close by mid-day the following day,” Elliott said.
But all these flowers would be helped along with some rainfall.
“It will help prolong their blooming period so yes any rain will definitely help them along,” Elliott said.
If you head out in search of wildflowers, be sure to snap some photos and share them with us by sending them to pictures@12news.com.