There are 30 species of Dalea found in Arizona, many of which are the the nursery trade because they are so doggone pretty. How cool is that? Very.
Dalea formosa can be found in many different plant communities around Arizona , New Mexico. West Texas and southward. It sure seems to like rocky rubble wherever it is and the gravelly plain at the base of the Dragoon Mountain, where I love to poke around, fits the bill.
The yellow banner on the beautiful pea-like flowers (papilionaceous!) does change to purple (joining the purple keel and wings) as it ages and it may well be a sign that says “sold out.”
The photos are mine and taken in the area described in this episode.
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) makes up for its lack of milky sap with the copious amount of nectar found in the flowers. Stand back...
Some personal history in poem and song. The photos are mine…well, I dug them out of the archives. That’s the very beginning of the...
Petey jabbers about monkey flowers and sandhill cranes and declares that spring has sprung in the desert grassland.