Desert Wildflower Blooms

Wildflower Flourishes and Flops - a 50-year History

The following photo gallery documents good wildflower years for several regions of the desert Southwest. The flower displays are interspersed with a few images of dry years to remind you of the NORMAL condition for these areas.

This site is incomplete; there are probably some good years that we have missed. We would welcome submission of photos to fill in gaps (with due credit to the photographer of course).

The rainfall data beneath each image are from the nearest weather station and indicate tenths of an inch for the winter season, i.e., from September of the preceding year through March of the year indicated.

For example:

• SONORAN DESERT: Arizona Upland
  (Tucson vicinity, Picacho Peak State Park [AZ], Organ Pipe Cactus Nat. Mon.)
  
• SONORAN DESERT: Lower Colorado River Valley
  (Pinacate, Gran Desierto, Cabeza Prieta, Anza-Borrego, Coachella Valley)
  
• SONORAN DESERT: Baja California
  
• MOHAVE DESERT (Joshua Tree NP, Death Valley, etc.)