Yuma and Tucson Area in Arizona
Where to Find the Wildflowers in 2023
- E-mail your digital photos and reports to Jim@desertusa.com. Use Wildflower Report as the subject of your e-mail. Let us know where you took the image, the date, and how you would like us to give you photo credit (first name, etc.)
- Text your photos and report to 760-740-1787
- Share your photos and report on DesertUSA’s Wildflowers Facebook Group.
Share Your Wildflower Photos & Reports with DesertUSA
Please share your wildflower pictures, including the date and location. We will post your photos on our Wildflower Reports page, so others can learn where and when to view the spectacular displays.
2023 Southern AZ Wildflowers Locations and Pictures
May 1 2023 Picacho Peak Reports:We feel pretty lucky here at Picacho Peak State Park, the Saguaros are starting to bud and bloom! We only have a few in the park as of now but they are stunning. Saguaros can bloom starting the end of April until the beginning of June. The bloom of their individual flowers only lasts less than 24 hours! This gives the bees, birds, and bats a short window to aid in the pollination process. These beautiful white flowers can be found in a crown around the tops of the saguaro and its arms. We hope you are able to get out and enjoy one of the most notable cacti in Arizona this early summer season!
April 10 2023 Margie Reports: I took these Mariposa Lilies at Catalina State Park in Tucson, AZ on Sunday, April 9. We hiked the Canyon Loop Trail . There were hundreds of Mariposa Lilies by the benches at the top of the loop, the most I have ever seen here. Most were orange, but a few were yellow.
Mar 31 2023 Will Reports: Picacho Peak
Mar 27 2023 Yury Reports: These flowers were blooming off Hwy 79 going south to Tuscon from Hwy 60 in AZ. They were blooming off the side of the highway for about 25 miles. We pulled off on two side roads to capture these photos. The colors reminded me of Monet paintings.
Mar 18 2023 Wesley Reports: I took a drive from Tucson up to Picacho Peak, then down through the Santa Rosa Valley to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on March 12. Picacho Peak is at its best in more than 12 years. The line to get in was more than an hour long, but worth it. There were strong showings of poppies on the east side north and south of the road and along the north slopes, but the best of the bloom is on the west side, with large patches of lupine and poppies from the washes up to the cliff face. We then took Toltec Road out to the northern Santa Rosa Valley and cut southwest toward Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
The northern Santa Rosa Valley is awash in Gordon's bladderpod from Chuichu Road to Table Mountain; some fields even had thick rings of globemallow surrounding the bladderpod. As for Organ Pipe, there were some patches of bladderpod and much scarcer poppies in the northern part of the park that never seemed to coalesce but were still fair in places if you could find the right pulloff. The northern part of the Ajo Mountain Drive was fairly sparse and could use a bit more rain and more time. The southern part of the drive was better, with some moderate patches of poppies, lupine and scorpionweed. The brittlebush are a ways from peak, as it has been a colder year, but it looks like that bloom will be good once it starts.
Mar 18 2023 Bob Reports: Organ Pipe Cactus NM in a mini-Super bloom. Lupine lining Hwy 85 from Alamo Canyon to the visitor center and many scattered areas of poppies and desert bluebells. Some poppies on the Ajo Mtn loop past Estes Canyon. Scattered Desert Chicory along South Puerto Blanco Road. Brittlebush blooming everywhere. Also, there are lots of Globe Desert Mallows in most areas of the monument.
Mar 13 2023 Gwen Reports: Organ Pipe is full bloom.
Mar 11 2023 Doug Reports: Spent the afternoon at Picacho State Park – beautiful colors and not too many folks for a Fri. Also saw some nice patches along the I-10 East access road between Pinal Airpark and Red Rock exits and was surprised to see some in the local neighborhood along Linda Vista between Shannon and Thornydale
Mar 11 2023 Barabara Reports: Great waves of thsee little pink flowers off Rte 10 toward Tucson. Photos March 10, 2023 Filaree.
Mar 10 2023 Jane Reports: Picacho Peak State Park along the Calloway Trail.
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Mar 6 2023 Jerry Bromiel Reports: These photos were all taken at Picacho Peak the morning of Sunday, March 5th.
Mar 3 2023 Patrick Z Reports: Snow photos taken March 2 Sentinel Peak in Tucson. Others taken March 3 Picacho Peak.
Mar 1 2023 Lori Reports: Picacho Peak State Park - Photos taken Feb 28. 2023.
Feb 28 2023 Will Reports: Here are some photos from Picacho Peak Saturday
Picture below is from Saguaro Lake
Feb 26 2023 Richard Reports: Picacho Peak is awesome! Rangers say it's still 1-2 weeks till peak. 2/25/23
Feb 26 2023 Bob Reports: Friday, 02-24, the Mexican Gold Poppies are in full bloom at Picacho Peak State Park .
Feb 16 2023 Bob Reports: I just returned from 3 days at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (02-12, 13, 14). Very, very few wildflowers are out now. Just a few brittlebushes blooming along the roadside. A pretty good rain most of the day Monday. I would guess that it will be a great wildflower season maybe in a couple of weeks.
Feb 3 2023 Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Reports: Our nights and early mornings have been damp in the monument - we’ve even had some thick fog! All of this moisture is welcome here in our desert environment and bodes well for this year’s wildflower season! This is the Sonoran Desert’s "5th season” – spring, dry summer, monsoon summer, fall and winter. We love our desert moisture, starry skies, and mild temperatures this time of year, the rainy winter season. Don’t let that deter you from visiting soon though – a light winter rain in the desert is a treat for the senses! Usually around mid-March is peak wildflower season.
NPS Photo/K. Girard
Jan 12 2023 Text Reports: Found the Anemone tuberosa at Colossal Cave Mountain Park, Tucson on Saturday 1/7/2023
Jan 1 2023 DesertUSA Reports: Happy New Year. The outlook for the wildflower season looks good at this point. It is raining in some areas.
2022 Southern AZ Wildflowers Locations and Pictures
Sept 1 2022 Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Reports: The ”Green Desert” is turning yellow! Chinchweed (Pectis papposa) is springing up all across Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument after several good rains. This beautiful plant is creating carpets of golden yellow all across the Sonoran Desert!
Park Photo
Aug 29 2022 Doug Reports: Exceptional flowers at Oracle state park along Mariposa and Windy Ridge trails on August 28, 2022. Now at their peak after over ten inches of monsoon rains.
Aug 29 2022 Alexis Reports: Mt Lemmon 8/27
April 26 2022 Alexis Reports: Aravaipa Canyon photo April 23.
April 7 2022 Saguaro National Park Reports: We have begun our annual phenology survey of the saguaros around our Red Hills Visitor Center! The towering cacti are beginning to bud and we will carefully track their patterns of flowering over the next several months.
March 31 2022 Saguaro National Park Reports: Tucson's incredible monsoon last summer gave us an amazing number of wildflowers and butterflies, but it also created a lot of fuel for wildfires this year.
Jan 1 2022 DUSA reports: Looks like a good wildflower year. Lots of December rain.
2021 Southern AZ Wildflowers Locations and Pictures
Dec 27 2021 DUSA reports: Lots of rain in the last week of the year.
April 22 Christine reports: Sonoran Desert Museum 4-12-31 Some wildflowers in bloom.
When will the desert wildflowers bloom? We start our report in January, plan your visit to coincide with the peak of the bloom - keep up to date with DesertUSA's Wildflower Reports. Be sure to bookmark this page for weekly updates.
We'd like to see your pictures too. E-mail your digital photos and reports to Jim@desertusa.com. Use Wildflower Report as the subject of your e-mail. Let us know where you took the photo and the date. We will post them on our wildflower reports. Thanks for your support and photos.
Photos tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
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