The Beauty of an Ocotillo Blooming

Saguaro National Park West, approximately 15 miles from Tucson, Arizona, is a stunning patch of desert that you could encounter almost completely by accident, if you didn't already know that it was there. The road leading to the Park is a small, desert road that bears no indication of possessing a specific destination. Gradually, the saguaro thicken to a multitude, you see the welcome sign, and the next thing you know you have crossed over into sheer beauty.

These are photographs I took in April 2012, when I made a trip to the Park. I had been long wanting to take photos of this Park, especially in the spring, when the ocotillo blooms.

A Blooming Ocotillo, Saguaro National Park, AZ

Ocotillo in Bloom, with Desert and Mountains in Distance, Saguaro National Park, AZ

The ocotillo is an amazing plant. A native of the Sonoran Desert, and often overshadowed by the saguaro cactus, the ocotillo's appearance highlights the very character of the desert. What appears to be nothing but a collection of dead, upright branches, the ocotillo will bud small petals of leaves up and along its limbs. But the ocotillo will bloom its bright orange plumes even when its branches are bare, setting off a sharp contrast between the flamboyantly alive and the seemingly dead, much like how the desert itself seems dead and barren until you take a closer, more attentive look. Sometimes we just need the patience to look more closely at things, to give them our slow, steady attention, so that we can gain a better appreciation of them. What might seem barren might actually be teeming with life (and potential!)

Check it out: Saguaro National Park