Spring flowers

I know most of you figure we live in the middle of a desert, which is all brown and dry and stuff (well, it is), but we have some green stuff too. So here are some things that have been blooming in our yard over the past few weeks. Usually there is something always in bloom, all year long.

The biggest bloomers are the two large olive trees in the front yard.


They are covered with lots of little white flowers, which turn into thousands and thousands of black olives unless we spray some magic stuff onto the trees. Since we don’t eat the olives I’ve been spraying them, to keep the purple spots off the driveway and the flocks of olive eating pigeons somewhat in check. It also looks like snow underneath, from all of the blooms falling.

The next most noticeable bloomer is our Desert Museum Palo Verde. We put it right at the front corner, and when fully yellow it is magnificent. It’s only been in for two years, and seems to like it here.


It looks bigger than the olive behind it, but that’s ‘cause I’m standing closer. Here’s a closer shot,
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with the yellow carpet underneath from falling blooms, and a small yucca with flower spikes in front of it. Keeping in the front yard, we have one yucca left over from the previous owners.


These were blooming all over town, with their towering spikes of flowers. This one is about five feet high, with the flower spikes adding another four feet or so to the top.

Our neighbor has a row of pyrocantha planted up against our wall.


The flowers turn to nice bright red berries. The fragrance of these flowers are about as close to honey as you can get – our whole front yard just smelled like a honey factory when this was in bloom. The plant has some nasty thorns, but perhaps I can put one in back just for the scent.

Up near the front door we have some small bushes, which turn bright and cheery.

Don’t know what they are, but you can’t even see any of the green leaves. This bunch is only about a foot high.

And more yellow over on the other side. This is a yellow broom.


We have about three varieties, all bloom a little differently, to spread out the yellow season. These are about four foot balls.

Yes, lots of yellows. That does seem to be a popular desert color, I also like it so we might be selecting more plants with that color too.

To finish up today with a thinking idea,
Rob asks, “what would a musical battle between Charles Ives and Steve Reich refereed by Peter Schickele sound like?”

(don’t ask me, I have absolutely no idea)