Rare late May rain

Photos: left, bee flying from saguaro flower; center top, ironwood tree; center below, closeup of ironwood flowers; right, foothill palo verdes in bloom.



It's hard to believe, but last week we had several days and nights of rainy weather. My rain gauge recorded 1.10 inches of rainfall over the duration of the low pressure. Normally this is a very dry time of year. The foothill palo verdes and ironwoods bloomed for a couple weeks longer than they normally do as a result. The yard is alive with toads; red-spotted toads, Sonoran Desert toads, spadefoot toads, Woodhouse's toads. The many kinds of wild desert bees have been very happy with the abundance of blooms; clouds of them surround the blooming ironwood trees.

I'm just getting over a case of the intestinal flu; lasts for 5 days or more, depending on the person. I felt badly not being able to get outside and spend time photographing the last flush of spring color in the desert. I did get some photos before and after being ill and am posting some of them.

The saguaros have been blooming too, but are nearly finished now. There is one old venerable saguaro in my yard which has a down-bending arm, placing saguaro flowers within easily photographable range. Normally one has to climb a ladder to get saguaro flower closeups. I was able to get some good photos of some of the bees that visited the flowers.

An early monsoon is being predicted for this year. I wouldn't be surprised in view of the May rain, which had a distinctly monsoonal pattern, if this does happen. It sure gives a lovely background of picturesque clouds for landscape photos.

Roadside rain puddle and storm clouds above the desert.


Raindrops on Queen Elizabeth rose. Jojoba fruit with raindrop jewel. Young opuntia pad with raindrops.





In my last blog, I promised rain pictures. Finally, here they are. It is nice to look back at them now that the summer heat is beginning and remember these cool, lovely days. Yesterday it was 102 degrees, today 105 degrees, and tomorrow is supposed to set a record high for May 17 of 107 degrees. Because of the late rain and rather moderate temperatures up till now (and the nights are still lovely, down in the 70's) the desert still looks colorful. The foothill palo verdes are in full bloom and the ironwoods are just approaching their peak bloom. The saguaros are blooming, and the ocotillos have just passed bloom. Next time I'll show some of the colorful flowers of the late spring/early summer. The photo above is of bookleaf mallee (Eucalyptus kruseana) with raindrops on the leaves.