Seasonal Bloom Tours
The Importance of Flowers:
Across cultures, and millenia people have cultivated and shared flowers. In part, perhaps, because they have an immediate and long-term benefit on our emotional, social, and psychological behavior. Further, although flowers are an evolutionary plant adaptation to support reproductive success, they also provide nectar for insects, birds, and bats, food for animals, and food, spices, decoration, and powerful symbolism for humans (Jones-Haviland et al, 2005). What's not to love?!
In natural Sonoran Desert landscapes, there are two peak periods for blooms and additional flowering surprises throughout the year. In cultivated landscapes, like that of the University of Arizona campus, there is even more floral inspiration in the Sonoran Desert's five seasons - Winter, Spring, Dry Summer, Monsoon, and Fall.
Haviland-Jones et al. (2005) An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers. Evolutionary Psychology Vol. 3:104-132
Curious About Pollinators of Native Flowers:
For information on flower-loving pollinators you're likely to find on the University of Arizona main campus, see the iNaturalist site.