Our spring bloom on the desert was a monumental floral flop - but a brilliant summer species is doing its blooming best to erase that bad memory.
Yellow summer poppies, also known as caltrops, are putting on a showy display near Gates Pass and elsewhere this month.
Recent monsoon rains get the credit for nurturing the abundant bloom in select spots.
Summer poppies often are mistaken for the Mexican gold poppies that sometimes carpet the desert in March and April.
Despite the resemblance, summer poppies are of a different species - an annual wildflower related to the creosote bush.
Their bloom is dependent on soaking summer rains because they require wet soil to germinate and bloom.
Wildflower experts emphasize that summer poppy displays might be lavish in one area and completely nonexistent in other parts of the desert.
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Rainfall chances are a bit low - 10 to 20 percent - for today and Wednesday but increase to 30 or 40 percent by Thursday, said Steve Reedy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Today is expected to be sunny and hot with a high near 107.
FIND SOME FLOWERS
One place to see summer poppies now is along Gates Pass Road west of Tucson. Go west out of the city on Speedway, which becomes Gates Pass Road.
Watch for flowers along the road on the east side of the pass and in sandy washes near the road.
BLOOMS AMID ASHES
Mark Dimmitt, director of natural history at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, recently toured the area of the Monument Fire near Sierra Vista - and found lots of flowers.
"Where the fire burned, there are huge fields of wildflowers, including summer poppies in the valley grasslands," Dimmitt said.
Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192.
