Desert Flower Bloom Times

Life Cycle

• Most flowering desert plants, aside from cacti, are annuals. The live out their short lives from mid-January to late June, between significant rainfall events by growing quickly and producing spectacularly abundant blooms. As they fade, their seeds fall to the ground and lie dormant until the next substantial rainfall, and the process starts over again. Seeds plump up on a heavy autumn rain and remain in the ground to wait for the first spring rainfall that stimulates germination.

Propagation

• Like all flowers, desert flowers multiply by pollination, a process that ensures the continuation of their species. Flowering plants are either self-pollinating or rely on external pollinators for their propagation. Flowers must be colorful and showy to attract bees, birds and butterflies, three external pollinators that move pollen from the male to the female plant parts. Self-pollinators possess both male and female parts and need no external pollinators. Once pollination has taken place, the flowers produce seeds and fade soon after. This generally happens in late summer as water becomes more and more scarce.

Cacti, Trees and Shrubs

• Because cacti are so adept at storing water, they aren't as dependent on rainfall for blooming. Most bloom in April, and the color continues through May when prickly pears and saguaro cacti bloom. Many desert trees and shrubs also bloom during the spring and early summer, with fewer blossoms seen during years of little rainfall. Whitethorn acacia (Acacia constricta) and creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) produce blossoms in spring and may bloom again in the summer months, while the desert ironwood tree (Olneya tesota) blooms every other May.

Annuals

• Parts of the Mojave desert are awash from April to June in colorful blooms provided by such flowering plants as desert dandelion (Malocothryx glabrata); dune primrose (Oenothera deltoides); larkspur (Delphinium parishii); lilac sunbonnet (Langloisia setosissima); Eaton's Firecracker (Penstemon eatonii); and desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata). Other flowering plants seen during these months include Mojave aster (Aster mohavensis); desert calico (Loeseliastrum matthewsii); and Western wallflower (Erysimum capitatum). The plants bloom profusely until mid-summer before they are pollinated and put down seed for the following year. Other annuals, such as desert lily (Hemerocallis undulata), appear from mid-January to mid-March, while others, such as the Mojave poppy (Eschscholtzia glyptosperma) and monkey flower (Mimulus bigelovii) are seen from mid-March through late May.