Palo verde trees are on a sort of blooming binge, with blossoms blanketing acres at some sites in the Catalina Foothills and elsewhere.
Several types of palo verde trees bloom in the Tucson area every spring — but plant experts say they appear to be putting on an especially widespread and intense show of bright yellow flowers this year.
“It seems like an unusually heavy bloom for the palo verdes — nothing short of spectacular,” said Meg Quinn, author of a wildflower guidebook and an environmental educator with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation.
“It’s primarily the foothill palo verdes blooming now,” Quinn said. “The blue palo verdes occur mainly in drainages, bloom earlier and are mostly finished or past peak now.”
She said plentiful winter moisture was likely a key factor in the big bloom.
“It seems that the palo verdes, along with most other desert trees and shrubs, are flowering more heavily than usual this year in response to the well-spaced and relatively abundant winter rains,” Quinn said.
Mark Dimmitt, a flower expert and retired director of natural history at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, said that foothills palo verde trees “flower in most years on deeper soils and especially along roadsides.”
“However, the ones on rocky ground and hillsides bloom only in the occasional wet years,” Dimmitt said. “I don’t think last winter was much above average (in moisture), but the rains were well spaced.”
Quinn noted some places to see palo verde trees in brilliant bloom.
“At present the palo verdes are in peak bloom throughout the Tucson Mountains and in many natural areas in and around Tucson,” she said. “Gates Pass Road, Kinney Road and McCain Loop Road are all good places to go in the Tucson Mountains. In Tucson, River and Oracle Roads are quite good right now as well.”
