Along the Highways and Byways

Nowhere can you find a gayer or more blithesome Spring than on the desert of Arizona. And when Spring comes to the desert with her gay blossoms and blooms she paints with a richness and delicacy impossible to describe. The first cactus to bloom in the state is the Hedgehog or Echinocereus genera. They begin blooming, usually in the latter part of March, and the colors are mostly in the range between pink and deep purple, there are a few flowers that are more redddish, however. The Hedgehog group is prominent in most of the southern part of the state at elevations below 4,000 feet. Following the appearance of these, most of the cacti bloom in rather continuous order until the middle of June. The Opuntia generally have smaller, more open type flowers than do the Echinocereus. Their range of color is from reddish brown through magenta and orange to bright yellow. The Opuntia usually are quite showy in their bloom. Some of the cholla or cylindrical type are of most unusual color often the branches are deep purple while the flowers are quite reddish. In the case of Opuntia santa-rita, which is a flat prickly-pear type, the pads are a deep purple while the flowers are a bright straw yellow. Generally speaking, the prickly pears or platyopuntias follow the hedgehogs. They begin blooming in the lower regions in the middle of April, continuing up to a month later in the high mesa lands at elevations of four to five thousand feet. The saguaros or giant cacti begin blooming in the middle of April. Next in order come the barrel cacti. They bloom during the summer, starting along the middle of May and continuing through July. Probably the most outstanding cacti, when in flower, are the night blooming cereae. The flowers last for only two nights, and appear year after year on the same date to a day. These open from about June 20 to 25. In general, the cacti in the southern part of the state bloom first, working northward as the season progresses. Along with the cacti, many interesting flowering shrubs and trees adorn the desert. The palo verde, with its brilliant yellow blossoms, the ocotillo tipped with flaming red, yuccas and agaves shooting great tree-like poles covered with masses of white and orange bell-like flowers all add to the picture. Our suggestion would be to plan a month's stay from about the last week in April to the end of May. One of the richest cactus areas in the state lies west of Congress Junction on State Route 71. This interesting highway also traverses a forest of giant Joshua Trees. Cacti are very plentiful along U. S. 80, all the way from Yuma to Douglas, and State Route 84, between Gila Bend and Tucson, traverses several outstanding forests of Saguaros or giant cacti. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, south of Ajo, is reached by way of State Route 85. A goodly number of cacti may be seen along U. S. 70 between Ehrenberg and Phoenix, and State Route 72 between Parker and Vicksburg. Another Joshua forest is crossed by U. S. 93 north of Kingman, and still another on U.S. 91 in the vicinity of Littlefield. Most interesting is the Saguaro National Monument in the vicinity of Tucson. A magnificent collection of these desert giants lies in the area with an outstanding number of crests-fan-topped giants, which are quite rare adding to the display. In general, cacti may be seen along every highway in Arizona, even along U. S. 66 through the pine forest, and while the specific routes previously mentioned offer outstanding cactus areas, there are so many places where certain varieties may be viewed that it is impossible to cover them all here. R. C.