Friday, February 03, 2023

Fabulous Friday - Into the Desert


On our recent adventure in Arizona, we met Sharon from Phoenix Daily Photo at Desert Botanical Gardens. I had never been in the gardens before.  The last time I was in Phoenix, I saw some small mountains, large rocks in the distance, and drove out that way to see what was there.  Just past the peaks, is the entrance to the gardens, we arrived just as the gardens were closing for the night.  I made a mental note that I needed to visit at the next opportunity.  And this was the next opportunity. 

The desert landscape has long fascinated me.  It must relate to time spent there as a child, my family spent a winter in Phoenix when I was 6 years old (a long time ago.) My father loved the landscape, and the skies.  There is something about the blue in those skies. 

It is winter in the desert, the weather was cool, maybe even cold overnight, warming in the sun for a spectacular afternoon. Arizona has recently had heavy rain, the landscape is just starting to green, and bloom.  Without large numbers of deciduous trees the change of seasons in the desert is subtle, but beautiful.  Summers are brutal, a friend of mine who has lived in Phoenix for 40 plus years said, "we have summer to weed out the weak." And even in the peak of summer, a two hour drive north into the mountains and the terrain and climate change dramatically.

There will be a photo dump sometime soon of the gardens, it was a fabulous stroll and an amazing place.  Until next time the photos and memories will remind me just how fabulous it is. 


14 comments:

  1. I love seeing deserts being in them, the Landscapes and plants are so unique. I like to visit them but don't know I can live there year-round. I don't think I would do very well living outside of the Four Seasons, as they each look so distinctively different.

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    1. There are four seasons in the desert

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  2. Those were the first desert gardens I ever visited. Way back in 1982. I can't imagine what they must be like now.

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  3. As I have learnt from YouTube train clips through Colorado and Travis at What Else is Possible, bare places can look so beautiful. I look forward to desert gardens photo dump.

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    1. Next Tuesday I think, or the Tuesday after.

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  4. I want to go to Death Valley when it is in bloom. My grandparents wintered in Phoenix and traveled around the Southwest. My grandpa told me stories about Death Valley's beauty when the flowers bloomed.

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    1. I was in Arizona in May a couple of times

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  5. This one beautiful photo whets my appetite to see all your garden photos! I would not be able to take an Arizona summer. The heat would strike me down dead.

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  6. Hey, I recognize those Chihuly sculptures! Your wrote a great description of living in the southwest and I love your friend's thought about summer weeding out the weak. I'm hoping that all that rain with bring some great spring wildflowers.

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  7. I love the deserts. The skies are the most amazing colors all day and night long.

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  8. I recognized them as soon as I saw the photo.

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