A day at the garden

We met up with some friends on Tuesday for a free visit to the Desert Botanical Gardens. I can not tell you how much I love this place. And this time of the year it is just so astoundingly beautiful. So many things in bloom. But most special, at least to me, are the cactus. These prickly somewhat uninviting plants do the most spectacular show in the spring, especially after a good wet winter (which we were blessed with this year). Hot pinks, oranges, yellows, whites, greens, delicate flowers that are so fleeting, maybe lasting all of one day, some only blooming at night to be pollinated by the secretive lunar moths.
The garden was packed to the gills with wild flowers... so fleeting, so lovely, so full of butterflies, lady bugs, and bees. I am lucky to have gone with my 2 year old, she points out all the loveliness, forces me to slow down (while all the big kids run fast towards the totally awesome climbing tree tucked away just off the path) and really enjoy all the beauty that is showing itself here at our lovely garden.