Natural Desert Flowers and Plants of the Sonoran Desert – Video of A Recent Visit
Recently while on a business trip to Phoenix, I took one afternoon to visit the magnificent Phoenix Botanical Gardens located in the Papago Park right in Phoenix. It was a fun day and I got to experience the Sonoran Desert with it’s native natural desert flowers and plants up close and personal without having to leave Phoenix. I’ve even created a brief video below of this trip. Click the picture to watch video.
On the drive there, there were the very striking brown rocks, hills or mountains – I’m not sure what the Arizonian’s refer to them as. They were very pretty to look at and I had to keep shifting my focus back to the road as I was trying to capture the scenery and arrive to the gardens safely. You’ll see what I mean in the video with the part of the trip driving there (smile).
Upon arrival to the gardens, I picked a perfect parking spot directly under a tree. This was a wise choice as I later learned because it helped to keep the temperature down inside the car. After spending in excess of 3 hours walking through the sonoran desert park returning back to a hot car would not have been too much fun since I drank my entire water bottle that I brought with me.
As far as the wonderful experience inside the botanical garden, it didn’t fail to deliver. I definitely experienced – you guessed it – Cacti and more cacti! Cactus plants grow and thrive in the arid climate of the Sonoran desert. There are many natural desert flowers and plants that I wasn’t even aware of until this visit. It is pretty amazing how the plants have adapted over time to survive the heat of the day and the coolness of the night. Of course, the saguaro cactus was quite fun to see – there are a lot of them, and actually you don’t have to visit the botanical garden to see them as they grow abundantly everywhere in the Desert soil.
I would say that one of my favorite memories of the Phoenix Botanical Garden is seeing the saguaro cactus. Up to this point I had only seen them in movies, television programs, or in pictures and had always through they were pretty “cool” looking. And, they were!
Did you know that the Arizona state flower is actually the saguaro blossom? That is quite fitting for the natural desert flowering plant that flourishes there. You will absolutely remember the saguaro cactus when you visit the area. They remind me of desert scarecrows – don’t you think they resemble people as they grow tall and have “arms” growing out the sides of their trunks? Hehe … I think so.
My favorite plant aside from the saguaro cactus was the palo verde trees. I loved the fact that they have green colored bark and teenie tiny leaves with two stems. The whole tree is just a beautiful natural blend of soft green against the brown background. They provide a sense of softness to such a harsh environment. I bet they look incredible when in blossom – a complete burst of yellow so I have learned.
I took a lot of pictures and several video’s and will be posting a collection dedicated to my trip out west. For those who have an interest in flowers and plants, I would highly recommend a visit to the Phoenix Botanical Garden. Remember to bring a bottle of water, or you may also find drinking fountains located throughout the garden grounds too. You may also want to wear a wide brimmed hat and bring sunglasses (which I forgot). Plan on at least 1.5 hours to walk through the garden paths – and do some research ahead of time if you are looking to visit when most of the plants are in blossom. My visit was in October and there were very few in blossom. This was a fun, unique, and wonderful botanical garden visit.
Click here to watch the brief video of my trip to the Phoenix Botanical Garden:
