The lower-level landscapes down south are exposed, and the exposure lends itself to brilliant colors from cacti, bushes, and a few small leafy plants. On the descent from Mt Lemmon, there was grass a couple of feet high, and under the grass were tiny purple and yellow flowers from stringy ground-hugging plants sheltered by the grass. I heard hundreds of bees buzzing for about an hour but couldn’t see them since the grass also hid them.
The bees are plentiful around all the flowers. The bees create Prickly Pear Honey from Prickly Pear Cactus flowers, a brilliant red. The honey is also red and sweeter than typical, with a slightly tart aftertaste. The wildflowers were another pleasant Arizona surprise.
Wildflowers were everywhere and contrasted the desolate landscape. They are sparse but plentiful and varied. The contrast was impressive, and the types of plants that had flowers varied from ground plants to cacti. I’d love to find a plant identification app that works offline. I have a lot to learn about foliage and even what uses the plants have.
