Flowers at your doorstep

We live in a wonderful time when flowers are available from all over the world and can be delivered right to your door. Tulips from Holland...Roses from Ecuador...Orchids from Thailand.

Imagine for a second that you only had the flowers that grew naturally on the land around us, like these brilliant orange cactus blooms.

Or the tiny yellow blossoms of a creosote bush.

Now, we have to trek through the desert to appreciate these blooms. Will these be cultivated on the massive flower farms of Columbia or California one day or will our desert treasures stay hidden in our backyard?

When you walk through the Chihuahua Desert this spring, enjoy the beauty that is right at your fingertips. If you're lucky you might get a short rain that will really bring out the fragrances I remember from a childhood trips to Hueco Tanks. The beauty of the world is available right at your doorstep but sometimes we need to just get into our own backyards. These plants that are so common place to us are unusual and foreign to so many.

What is your favorite El Paso area plant or flower?