Thursday, March 8, 2012

WILD(flower) Ideas in Tucson

The African Daisy
Dear Sexy Tucson,
                  " I love you most this time of year as things get warmed up.  I love your display of wildflowers before our spring season gets started.  Your natural firework display is THE BEST!  And every year, you get me excited with your razzle dazzle display of colors. Truly yours.  Rohrerbot"
This photo shoot was taken in February around the second week.   A neighbor took their front yard and made magic happen.  They spread wildflower seed all around and as you can see in the photos, it is something special for the human eye.  As we get further into wildflower season, I'll be taking you to some hot spots around the city and state in search of the best display.
The best time to see wildflowers here in southeastern Arizona is either during the spring wildflower season (March through early May) or during the summer wildflower season (late July through early September). Autumn wildflowers will begin blooming here in October as the weather cools a bit, and they will continue blooming until the hard frosts of late November. Scattered wildflowers can be observed here in lower elevation desert areas almost all year-round.
Today's feature flower is the African Daisy. (OR Dimorphotheca aurantiaca)

 CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS:
  • Exposure: full sun
  • Water: water flowering plants every week; fall-sown seeds need weekly watering if winter rains are sparse
  • Soil: any well drained
  • Propagation: annually from seed; self-sows
  • Maintenance: none; leave dried seed heads on to encourage self-sowing
                                                            LANDSCAPE VALUE:
    Wonderful early spring color.  Annual color in landscape. And a great example of a wildflower garden!

So where will I be next?  Stay tuned for more adventures.  You never know where I'll show up, but if it's worth a picture and some helpful info...I'm there!  For now, I hope you enjoy the light show of sun and dazzling color.  I'm pumped for this season!  More tomorrow....

20 comments:

  1. WOW.....amazing all these lovely colors
    ....good shots Chris.

    Greetings and a nice day,

    Joop

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  2. Very pretty! Lovely post and photos. Are they poppy flowers?

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  3. What a gorgeous display of wildflowers - can't wait to see more photos as the year progresses!

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  4. Beautiful, love it!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Mette

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  5. The pictures are beautiful.
    Wish I could create a lovely cactus garden here in Toronto.
    I love the African Daisies, grow them in my garden as annuals.
    Thank you for sharing,
    Gisela

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  6. These photos are breathtaking. The colors are so bright and rich. So refreshing for someone buried in browns and a little white.

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  7. When I pass a yard where the owners have done this, it always makes me stop and enjoy. Beautiful colors.

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  8. loved your love letter! these are gorgeous!

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  9. Gorgeous! Amazing mix of colors. I look forward to seeing what you have for us next.

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  10. OMG!!! How much would I love living there...my fav color is ORANGE!!!!!

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  11. wow!!! BEAUTIFUL flowers!! wildflowers and cacti!! awesome!!!!

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  12. Quite a spectacular display! I love these flowers, their colour is so vibrant, they just generate happiness! Super shots!

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  13. A beautiful field of golden posy's and cactus. Florida also has a wild cactus.
    cheers :)

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  14. What a beautiful blanket of color. I also like the "Maintenance: none" part.

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  15. Belas cores...Excelente trabalho....
    Cumprimentos

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  16. Widoki wspaniałe, a pierwsze zdjęcie jest niesamowite. Kwitną kwiaty na łące i kaktus ma kwiaty w podobnym kolorze. Pozdrawiam. *** Wonderful views, and the first picture is amazing. Flowers are blooming in the meadow and cactus has flowers of similar color. Yours.

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  17. Yes Kreesh, that is spectacular. I haven't seen a see of African daisies that wide flowering at the same time. Maybe the equivalent of the daisies i've seen here is the cosmos, but the inclusion of the cactus is best. I love it. More...more!

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  18. Daisies and cacti together... what an attractive combination of colours and form :-D

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  19. You are right to call the display of wildflowers "fireworks". What amazing colours!

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  20. Your neighbor created a gorgeous show!

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Thanks for stopping by!