April in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert

April in the Arizona-Sonora desert is usually a wonderful time. Daytime highs are in the 80's and 90's, with the nights cool and pleasant. This is also when the desert really starts blooming. Wild flowers, trees and cacti all get into the act. What follows are some photos of this spring flowering taken in April 2013 and April 2014.

The first series of photos, five in all, focus on brittle bush. Brittle bush is a common small shrub of the Arizona-Sonoran desert. It is called brittle bush because it's woody stems are brittle. There is always brittle bush blooming in the spring; some years much more plentiful than others, depending on rain fall. These photos of brittle bush are all from April 2013, off the Four Peaks road north of Phoenix. 

 In the photo below is a barrel cactus with green palo verde trees in the background, which have not yet put out their yellow blossoms. I believe the small orange flower is a globe mallow.

The next three photos are of ocotillo. Ocotillo is a woody plant with long slender branches reaching up from the ground. They have an orange blossom on them in April. If you cut one of the branches off and bury the cut end in the ground it will grow. In southern Arizona it was common to do this,  weaving the ocotillo with wire fence, creating a living fence. Very good for a small corral. An added bonus is that the ocotillo has very sharp thorns. In my experience they tend to grow on rocky hillsides, sometimes in thickets. A helluva place to have to get a cow out of.

The next two photos are of palo verde trees. They are called palo verde because they have green bark. They cover themselves with yellow blossoms in April. One of my favorite trees. These two photos were taken this April in a wash on the Florence-Kelvin “highway”. The small orange blossoms in front of one of the palo verdes is globe mallow, I think.

The last photo is of a hedgehog cactus in bloom, taken off the Four Peaks road. The hedgehog grows close to the ground and has this beautiful blossom. A favorite cactus  of mine. 

Pinal Pioneer Desert Graveyard

Pinal was an old silver mining town just west of Superior, Arizona about 45 minutes drive east of Mesa. Founded in 1875 following a silver strike, it was abandoned in 1888 when the mine played out. There may be a few foundations left from the old town, which I haven't found, but the old graveyard is still there. ( See blog of June 12, 2010, “ Superior, Arizona.”) It is not demarcated by a fence or any entrance marker or any apparent regular layout. Graves are scattered in the hills.

The graveyard is reached by taking a Forest Service road north off US 60, directly across from the entrance to the Superior airport, about 1 mile west of Superior. You have to wind around in the hills 1-2 miles, generally staying to the left. Some other folks have put directions on the internet, which may be better than mine. Four wheel drive isn't necessary, but high clearance is recommended.

The graves are old, sometimes outlined with rocks, sometimes with rocks piled on top. Some have crosses made with what appears to be re-bar, some with wooden crosses. There are a few genuine headstones and one elaborate grave outlined with vertical pipes. Apparently no burials have taken place since 1916.

Many of the graves have small decorations, mainly artificial flowers.

The photo below shows a few scattered graves looking south with Picket Post Mountain in the background. The grave in the foreground is one of the few with a headstone. I believe it is from 1885.



The next photo shows an old grave overgrown with desert grass and weeds with a re-bar cross and artificial flower.



The grave below has a white wooden cross, what appears to be a momento and an artificial flower. Rocks are piled on top of the grave.



Another photo looking south towards Picket Post Mountain. I believe I can count at least six graves in this photo.



Re-bar cross with decoration.



Below is a wooden cross with a rock outlined grave.



In this photo there are three re-bar crosses close together with a fourth in the top left background.



I believe this grouping contains at least six graves. It is probably a family group.



Below is the middle portion of this group. As you can see there are toy animal and dinosaur figures,a stuffed animal and other toys. The metal marker reads "Charlie Harkey 1900-1914, Nellie Harkey 1907-08, and Reuben Harkey 1911-1911."



Below is the grave with the vertical pipes.



Finally, here is a grave with a white wooden cross and rocks piled on top.