The un-urban side of Phoenix...

[plinko]

Squaw Peak! Taller than the sears Tower and much more rewarding personally to get to the top of!

The Mountain Preserve is truly the gem of the city...

[NIXPHX77]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

PHX31: Are you familiar with any other fruit tree that does well in Arizona that is not tropical/citrus? Apricot maybe? Cherry? Apple? I want something that sheds it's leaves in the fall and flowers/fruits in the spring.

nice pix. i have an ornamental pear; there is no fruit at all, though.
but it does lose leaves (they turn a pretty orange and red) in december
and gets pretty white flowers and new bright green leaves about now.
mine is just about ready to burst into bloom.

i don't think cherry or apple will work in the Valley; not enough
chilling hours and too much heat. i hear kumquats (citrus?), pomegranete,
and apricot can grow hear. not sure if they flower.
go to a good nursery, like Baker's on 40th St or Whitfill on Glendale ave;
these are locally owned, operated and grown.

[vertex]

Originally Posted by NIXPHX77

...i hear kumquats (citrus?), pomegranete,
and apricot can grow hear. not sure if they flower.
go to a good nursery, like Baker's on 40th St or Whitfill on Glendale ave;
these are locally owned, operated and grown.

All 3 will bloom and grow fruit here, no problem. I've seen grape vines too.

[Kroney]

I dig the Pomegranate. I'm not sure how old our tree is, but it looks awesome when it blooms in the spring. This is from late April of last year.

[SunDevil]

Originally Posted by PHXguyinOKC

damn, now i'm home sick... god i hate oklahoma

I hear ya, not that Spokane (Eastern Washington) isn't beautiful but for me nothing beats the area where the Sonoran desert meets the mountains.

[Upward]

Wow, that's about as green as it gets in Phoenix!

[PhxSprawler]

Great pics, HX!

Regarding the fruit- I use my pomegranate and a fig as tall hedges. The pom is bald right now but blossoms in the spring. It is one of my favorite plants and a great alternative to oleander. Try to avoid the dwarf pom if you are looking for something tall. The fig is tall and used as a hedge as well, but it seems to blossom and produce fruit only some of the years. Mine is still trying to recover from the 15-degree freeze last winter. The only place I could find them was at the nursery on Glendale just east of 7th street (I forget the name of the place).

I have seen plum trees also, but I have no idea if they actually produce fruit, or how good the fruit is.

[HX_Guy]

The pomegranate are nice, and the fruit are good, but it looks like a tall bush to me. I want something that is more of a traditional tree, such as the peach, or an apricot tree, cherry, plum, apple, etc.

[®uger]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

PHX31: Are you familiar with any other fruit tree that does well in Arizona that is not tropical/citrus? Apricot maybe? Cherry? Apple? I want something that sheds it's leaves in the fall and flowers/fruits in the spring.

Almond (flowers) pinion pine (no flowers but a beautiful blue needle and nuts) pomegranate (flowers) beat me to the pomegranate

[DowntownDweller]

Originally Posted by PhxSprawler

The only place I could find them was at the nursery on Glendale just east of 7th street (I forget the name of the place).
.

Whitfill Nursery. Drive by it every time I get PeiWei during the work-day.

[admdavid]

My parents have and have had orange, lime, lemon, pink grapefruit, plum, apricot, and peach trees as well as grape vines. For me, nothing beats the smell of the orange blossoms, though. I've driven home to PHX from San Diego and I love how I can smell the blossoms once I hit Maricopa...so nice!

[tempedude]

Looks like we may have a good show of color across the desert.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Wildflower lovers have reason to be excited

Diana Balazs
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 16, 2008 07:51 AM

Will winter showers bring spring wildflowers?

The answer is a definite yes with Mexican gold poppy, lupine and other desert blooms already starting to pop open, promising a colorful show in upcoming weeks.

The Arizona State Parks Department and the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix are already hearing from eager residents and visitors wanting to know where the wildflowers are.

Angelica Elliott, the Botanical Garden's wildflower curator, is excited about this year's display.

"My good guess would be, yes, it's going to be a pretty good year, and the only reason I'm saying that is it's awfully green out there," Elliott said.

The last few years were bleak because of little rain. Previous good viewing years were 2005, 2001, 1998 and 1995, state parks officials said.

In the Valley, wildflower season typically starts in February, peaks in March and can extend into April, depending on when the hot weather arrives.

Wildflowers include Mexican gold poppy, lupine, brittlebush, chuparosa, desert globe mallow, scorpion weed, fiddleneck, bladderpod and golden eye.

Before grabbing the camera and jumping into the car, wildflower seekers should check out the ranger cam at www.azstateparks.com, said spokeswoman Ellen Bilbrey. Park rangers are posting updated photos of favorite wildflower locations such as Lost Dutchman and Picacho Peak state parks.

The department also operates a state parks wildflower hotline at 602-542-4988, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, which is especially useful for out-of-state visitors seeking information about peak viewing times.

In addition, the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department is offering tips and a wildflower viewing guide at phoenix.gov/newsrel/0702flowers.html.

The Botanical Garden will begin posting statewide wildflower information beginning March 1 at www.dbg.org. It also will host its annual Flower Power Festival March 8-9.

Typical spots to view wildflowers in Phoenix are South Mountain Park, Piestewa Peak, Dreamy Draw, and both the Cholla Trail and Echo Canyon areas of Camelback Mountain.

Elliott, the wildflower curator, said there is such high interest in wildflowers because a good year is a rare event.

"Just seeing in the desert these carpets of color - oranges and pinks and blues - it's so striking to see that. You don't see that all the time," she said.


Photo: Arizona State Parks
Mexican gold poppies are starting to pop open at Picacho Peak State Park.

Arizona Republic:http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...rs0218-ON.html

[Cranetastic]

HX_Guy, my grandparents usd to have a bunch of Apricot trees. Granted it was donw in Tucson, but I don't imagine it being much different down here. We used to eat them all of the time. I don't recall if they flower.

[AZ KID]

I went walking in the Phoenix mountain preserve yesterday with some family. They said it was unbelievable how green it was! Managed to get a couple pictures... Sorry they were taken on my phone.







It really was amazing! If you anyone has some free time i would go and take a walk

[oliveurban]

Great pictures. I've also hiked these pathways many times.

I actually say they're "urban." I rather view these spaces as Phoenix's answer to urban parks. Sure they may not be surrounded by incredible skyscrapers, but they are definitely still "islands" of nature surrounded by a central, urbanized area.

[AZ KID]

Another beautiful day in the valley of the sun.

[RC14]

Beautiful pics, reminds me of Ensign Peak in Salt Lake City except with different vegitation.

Here is a very stupid question.
I have sadly never been to southern Arizona so I have been wondering, do most of the trees still shed their leavs in the fall like they do in cooler cimets?
What about in Tucson or Hawaii?
Dumb question I know but how would I know, I've never been there?

Although I would deffinently like to vist some time, I love the desert and hate winter.

[andrewkfromaz]

It depends on the type of tree. Most desert trees have kind of weird patterns, such as the mesquite tree which drops all of its leaves annually, growing them back new within weeks. But most desert trees do not shed in the fall like the deciduous trees you see in northern climes. There are some non-native trees that grow in the desert that do lose their leaves. There are also some trees that are native to Arizona (including southern AZ where Tucson is) that are pretty much deciduous. The cottonwood tree comes to mind - it grows in perennial river beds.

[HooverDam]

I went on a hike at S Mountain a week and a half or so ago. Here are some photos:

[boisecynic]

Excellent pics!

Feel free to visit my un-urban Boise pics in this thread;

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=146714

Pics are about half way down and are all a little over a mile from downtown Boise.