Desert Botanical Gardens

Spring is in the air! And unfortunately, so are copious amounts of pollen. As I was suffering in the darkness of my living room, it suddenly occured to me that if I was destined to sneeze my brains out because of all these budding blossoms, I might as well go out and enjoy the beauty of mother nature in person. So I packed up my gear and made for the Sonoran Desert.

A short trip later, I found myself at the Desert Botanical Garden, surrounded by the beauty of Mother Nature. The plants and flowers were quite beautiful, and I'm sure smelled beautiful as well, although I'll have to take others' words on that part. It's quite amazing how much vegetation actually grows in the middle of the desert. The flowers that bloom in around these parts really stand out against the earth tone backdrops the desert provides. This was my first real attemt at macro and floral photography, and I'm pleased with the results so far. Hopefully after a little more practice, my prints will improve even more.

A cluster of boganvillas attracted my attention before I even left my apartment complex

The boganvillas nestle among the tall blades of glass

A closer shot of the boganvillas

Camelback Mountain looms behind one end of the Botanical Garden...

...while Papago Park rises on the other side

If you touch it, it will hurt...

Patterns are abundant in the desert

A large cactus patch comprised of several different types of cacti

There are also plenty of spikey-type plant thingies in the desert. I forget the name of these

But here's one with two huge sticks growing out of it. Interesting!

Bright flowers begin to emerge from the harsh desert

The fragile flowers reach up towards the sky...

...and open up to reveal their inner-beauty

More exotic flowers help to turn the empty desert green with life

A yellow bloom tops out this cactus

More vivid colors hiding in the desert

A patch of yellow rests in the shade of a withered tree

The flowers dominate the area

A butterfly lights upon a small flower...

...before moving to a more colorful home

Another butterfly resting upon a flower

I have no idea what this crazy plant is, but it definately looks snazzy!

A cactus skeleton shows about how I felt after a full day in the desert. Time to go home!

Thanks for looking through my photos! I'm pretty happy with how most of my macro/floral shots turned out. I'll have to try another session soon. Until then, keep surfing and snapping photos!