Flowers of the Desert

Harsh desolation defines the desert for most of the year. In high summer, heat soaks into the Earth until it's hot for the entire 24 hour day. Everything is still, looking to the sky, hoping for a few drops of rain. In the winter, the cottonwood trees covering the margins of the Virgin River in Zion are a forest of dry, bare limbs.  The struggle of life to simply survive can be overlooked in a place like Zion, where sheer rock cliffs and towering stone peaks draw the eye up and far away.

As a child of the desert, I can remember being amazed when I first saw a wet green world outside the desert. Plants overflowed everywhere. They were not there because someone planted and watered them; they were just there.

But for a brief -- too brief -- moment in spring, desert plants are young and beautiful. It’s a time I wait for every year. I imagine that the plants feel a joy while blooming. I feel joy seeing them bloom.

The cactus flower is, in my view, the most beautiful flower in the desert. Their brilliant colors rival any flower on Earth. Thick, waxy petals give them depth and shape.

But the cactus only blooms for a day – two at the most. If you see one, stop and enjoy it. It won’t be there for long.

Beautiful Cholla cactus is often called the “Jumping Cholla” because the end segments seem to jump right off the plant and attach to your clothes, your skin, your dog, whatever is nearby. Dried skeletons of the wood in the stems are a favorite for hobbyists.

Springdale residents have planted what are sometimes called, “Cerntury Yucca” and if you’re lucky, you could see one in full bloom like this one. It takes about 25 years for one to mature and then it flowers just once. After that, the plant dies.