Saguaro Blooms

Hike #19 of the 52 Hike Challenge

Late May to early June is Saguaro blooming season and hike 19/52 of our yearlong hike challenge took Ed and I to Saguaro National Park East in Tucson Arizona.  At 7am we gathered at the Broadway Trailhead to meet Ranger Don, the park’s resident biologist, and a small group of visitors who had gathered for a nature hike.

Having lived in the area for ten years, Ed and I thought we knew a lot about these iconic cacti, guardians of the Sonoran Desert, but we learned a lot from Ranger Dan.  Here are some fun facts:

• Flower buds will first appear on the east facing side of the cactus to take advantage of the warmth of the sunrise in early spring, then move in a counter-clockwise ring at the growing tips as the blooming season progresses.
• The waxy-white flowers open at night and begin to whither during the day—each bloom only lasts 24 hours.
• The cup-shaped blooms are filled with nectar, enticing bats, birds, and many insects to aid in pollination.
• Saguaros can live to be 150-175 years, yet are slow growers and have a better chance of surviving to adulthood if they grow in the shelter of a nurse tree (usually a Palo Verde or Mesquite). As the Saguaro grows, it doesn’t kill the tree, but simply outlives it.
• According to Ranger Dan, a stressed or diseased saguaro will put its energy into survival and may not bloom.

Take this guy for instance…stressed, diseased, filled with way too many woodpecker holes…and yet Saguaros are resilient creatures. Look closely. It’s growing new arms and…

it’s blooming!

Against all odds, it’s BLOOMING! A small gesture in the middle of a desert perhaps, yet I can’t help feeling there’s hope for the world. Find your way to bloom!