Flowering Plants in the Sonoran Desert
—and Some Notable Numbers
Blue Palo Verde trees are blooming all over Tucson right now, with clouds of yellow flowers covering their branches! I’ve created art of these trees many times and so today I’m sharing two of my “vintage” works of art of Blue Palo Verdes in bloom.
First, here’s my Blue Palo Verde art from April 2017:
And here’s my Blue Palo Verde art from April 2018:
It’s interesting for me to observe an aspect of my art that’s changed over the past ten years: in 2015, when I started spending more time creating art, I included the date on my art as a science/data point (like the first Palo Verde art above). Then I changed my approach to include descriptive text instead of the date (like the second Palo Verde art above). But with my Perpetual Journal, which I started in 2023, I’ve been including both the date and descriptive text.
Here’s a recent Perpetual Journal page showing two other Sonoran Desert flowering plants: Arrowweed and Sowthistle.
Arrowweed is an evergreen shrub, native to the Sonoran Desert, and its flowers remind me of anemone, with tendrils sticking out in all directions. Arrowweed has been used by indigenous people of the Southwest for a variety of purposes including arrow shafts, medicinal uses, and building purposes.
Sowthistle is a common weed, widespread around the world. It’s supposedly edible, though I’ve never tried it.
A Negative Positive Number
104 is a positive number, yes, but when it refers to a recent temperature here in Tucson, it’s not positive in my mind! As we say in Tucson: the ice broke on the Santa Cruz River last Friday, April 11, 2025—meaning, we reached 100° F. for the first time this calendar year. The official reading at Tucson International Airport was 101° F., but at our house the temp reached 104° F.!
Boo-hoo-hoo! ☹️ Or as Luke Skywalker expressed so eloquently in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope:
A Positive Positive Number
🎺 Doot, do-do-DOOOOO! Once again, we have a trumpet fanfare—this time announcing that as of last Thursday, April 10, 2025, I’ve maintained my Daily Art Habit for 200 days in a row!!! 🎉 Woo hoo! Keeping this daily habit has changed my thinking from “I hope I get to do some art today” to “Of course I’m going to do some art today”!
To tag on to my Star Wars reference, here’s one of my favorite Star Wars quotes:
“Do...or do not. There is no try.”
- Yoda, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
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Yow! Sorry to hear the "negative" news! Too hot, too soon! .... But thx for the thoughts on the evolution the past 10 years of your art journal. It encourages me!
Wonderful blooming art! And congratulations on your chronicle of life among the Arizona-Sonoran desert flora and fauna. Inspiring!