It seems ungracious to be thankful for an El Niño, given the havoc the phenomenon wreaks on the Western hemisphere. But here in Arizona, the effect is not so much tornadoes and floods but much-needed rain. The occasionally recurring effect of a warm current in the Pacific Ocean, El Niño brings weather disturbances that can have some severe economic and health effects in the countries it affects. In Arizona, though, it brought back the kind of gentle winter rains we used to see every year when I was a young thing.
You get used to drought after it’s been going on for a couple of decades — 22 years, to be precise. Native flora shrivels up, and the springtime wildflower shows go away. Once-flukish 118-degree days occur every summer now. And ornamental plants? Forget it!
So I had pretty much resigned myself to the belief that the beautiful climbing roses that turn the west-side deck into a leafy bower were going to have to be taken out this year. All that remained of them was a few parched sticks, no matter how much water I thought I was pouring on them.
But nay! Check this out!
Who’d’ve thunk it?
So overjoyed were these plants at actually getting enough water for a change — for the first time in years — and actually getting water all over them, that last January one of them burst forth with a single blossom:
Neither of the vines has made another one yet, but they’re getting ready to. And both are covered with more leaves than they’ve had in as long as I can remember.
Earlier this winter, in a fit of spring-planting enthusiasm (it’s been spring since January…), I bestirred myself to plant some flowers. It’s the first time I’ve felt like gardening since the marathon spate of surgeries, which really left me very depressed. But spring has sproinged, and oit looks like even the old lady is shaking off the long, dry winter.
LOL! I give up on trying to force WordPress to put these images where they oughta be! Is there a reason computer technology has to be such an unholy timesuck?
Dogs love springtime, too…probably the more so because they never indulge in electronic distractions.
Oh, wow, great photos! I have visited Arizona a few times to visit family and came thisclose to fainting in the heat. And I’m from Arkansas, so I know summer heat.
My dad and stepmom used to live in Bullhead City, right on the border with Nevada and I don’t know how they stood it for as long as they did. The Colorado river is beautiful but I’ve got to have some water falling from the sky once in a while. My dad and brother now live in Prescott Valley, where it’s much more temperate, thank goodness.
Bullhead City is pretty horrible. The heat’s incredible and the desert around there is truly sere. The Prescott area is a MUCH more pleasant place to live!
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m totally jealous that El Nino has stopped by your section of the country. I live in So Cal, or drought central, and it completely thumbed its nose at us. Less rain this year, than before.
I now think that El Nino was drummed up by the roofing companies who got everyone to rush out and repair roofs last fool in preparation for the downfall that never came.
Uh, that was supposed to be “last fall”, not last fool. (Sigh)