On 5/7/2025 at 1:33 PM, Smithy said:have never seen ironwood trees in bloom before. On the highway I thought I was seeing lavender-colored trees. "No, it can't be," I said to myself. But since I was driving, I couldn't stop or take photos. When I got set up and started walking, I found that they are, indeed, lavender when they're blooming.
The Ironwood is so enigmatic. It's my favorite desert tree. 99% of the year it looks like a charred remain of a tree or something that has just plum given up on existing. Then, it blooms. It's a ghostly color, you can't quite catch it with your eyes, is it lavender, is it gray, it there white in there? And yes, they are all there, mixed in the blossoms. I've tried for years to mix a paint color that matches it, but I feel it's impossible due to the dilution of colors and lighting. I will leave this color to nature.
For some reason, this is a stellar year for Ironwood blooms, best I've ever seen. Very showy.
Yellow everywhere is the overwhelming desert spring bloom color. But these last 2 seasons, there have been precious little normal colors.
