Joshua tree

Last week we flew to Las Vegas on route to Phoenix.  We stayed just long enough to visit the Red Rock National Conservation Area just 15 miles west of the city. 

Las Vegas is in the Mohave Desert and relatively few plants are adapted to the harsh climate.  In winter, the air is frigid and the wind cuts like a knife. In summer, the sun is a broiler.

The scenic drive starts out at the visitors area.

Along the drive, hikers can stop and climb the trails up the gargantuan red rocks.

A yucca grows in front of a sandstone rock heavily eroded by weather.

Sagebrush grows in front of a limestone rock in the shadows.

A Joshua tree and sagebrush.

The landscape is rough in the Wild Wild West.

Winter

Today was a cold morning.  I am weary of winter, but I checked the extended forecast and it does not look like spring is happening soon.

I have been looking forward to spring since the beginning of winter.  The morning after New Years Day, our house felt empty.  The day was cold and I was stuck in the house, bored and lonely.  I sipped a cup of tea and looked out over my garden from the living room window.

And hmmm, what was that in the garden bed under the window?  A fat purple bud of the first hellebore, beginning to bloom.

 

 Over the next few weeks, purple, pink and white hellebores began their flower show.  By early February, all the hellebores were in full bloom, nodding shyly in the wind.  

 

When it snowed, the flowers were smashed by heavy wet flakes, but after each melt off, the hellebores  stood up again.  

 

 

 Last night I flew home from a week in the desert Southwest.  At the airport, I dragged my bag  to  the parking garage.  The temperature was around freezing.  Snow was on the ground and the wind blew a cold rain around.  I dug my coat out of my bag, then my hat, my scarf and my gloves.  

 

Today, the sun shone brightly but it was still plenty cold.  I ventured outdoors to  inspect the garden.  Spring 2013 may be uncooperative, but in the garden, the hellebores have been brave and reliable.    

 



 

Hellebore: a plant you can count on.