Now, I know that lots of you are still under a significant (and possibly annoying) blanket of snow, but here in the desert, things are beginning to feel like spring. I was hoping that we would still be here when the desert really blooms, but it looks like we’ll miss the Really Big Show. However, as I took a last little walk around the grounds today, and then checked back through some other shots I’ve taken this month, I definitel feel like the Big Bloom is just around the corner.
(Please don’t ask me to identify these flowers! Generally speaking, if they don’t come with an identifying spike, I’m clueless!)

Here are some of the pink ones –


And a selection of the yellow ones (I know, I’m getting pretty technical here….)

Some odds and ends (the one on the bottom right is from a tree, and the one with the truck in the background is a fairly good sized bush)

Ok, this one I know – the Ocotillo. This looks like a cactus, but is not. When it’s dry, it drops all of its leaves to conserve water. Once it rains, little green leaves pop out all along the stem. And then they produce those beautiful red “flag” flowers on the very tips. Not very many of the ones we saw at Joshua Tree were in bloom, but we did find a couple. Pretty cool, doncha think?

And then there are the cacti.
Can you see the buds hiding in the thorns on the top picture?

I bet they are going to be beautiful.
And these –

or this one –

Even the Cholla were getting ready to bud –

The flowers on the cholla will be magenta. Man, I hope we find some of those at our next stop!
Since the locals have all been commenting on just how green everything is becoming, I thought I’d compare a couple of pictures I took today with ones taken back in early February. The pictures on the left are from Feb 4, the ones on the right, Mar. 1.

Ok, I guess I can see a little bit more green. But I confess, it’s hard for this Pennsylvania/New England girl to really get caught up in how green everything is here. (But then again, PA nots so very green right now either!).
Ah, the Promise of Spring!

Tomorrow we will be leaving the Coachella Valley behind. We are heading to our March project, Crosswind Community Church , up in the “high desert” north of Los Angeles. I think there might be hope for Spring in the Desert yet!

PS – there are a couple more flower shots, along with the ones I used in the collages HERE, if you’d like to check them out.

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