© 2011 Robert Hitchman. All rights reserved.
Cholla Cactus Garden
Nikon D300s | 35mm lens | 1/60 sec. at f/18
Cacti store large quantities of moisture to survive long periods of drought. Barrel cactus swell up after a rain. Their sharp spines protect them from thirsty desert creatures. Plants, like the ocotillo and the creosote bush, lie dormant for months, waiting for rain, and then grow quickly until the next drought. Desert wildflowers, the annuals, lie buried as seeds in the desert soil until enough rain falls to start their germination. They bloom quickly, producing seeds that fall back into the soil to wait for the next rain. Sometimes it takes years before a heavy rainfall, like the winter and spring storms of 2005, washes off the resinous coatings on buried wildflower seeds. Enough rain usually falls on the desert each winter to bring up at least a few wildflowers. All nature photographers dream of a making a trip to the southwest deserts just after the hundred-year rain.
Desert wildflower
season usually starts across Joshua Tree’s low, southern regions
of the park in late February. The color peaks in the higher
elevations in late March and early April, depending on the
amount of winter rainfall. In the spring of 2005, almost ten
inches of rain fell on Joshua Tree National Park. The
wildflower displays were the best seen in southern California in
many years.
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Indian Paint
Brush and Nikon D300s | 15mm lens | 1/180 sec. at f/13 |
© 2011 Robert Hitchman. All Rights Reserved.
Joshua Trees and Goldfields Nikon D300s | 15mm lens | 1/200 sec. at f/18
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