In a lifetime we may never see another desert wildflower season like the great Spring of 2005.

The greenery was so thick in places you could hardly see the ground. It was spectacular throughout the entire southwestern United States. Because of abundant winter and spring rains the wildflower season was one of the most amazing of the last 50 years. The moisture germinated many flowering plants whose seeds had laid dormant in rocky desert soils for decades.

This blue wildflower is called desert lupine. It is in front of a prickly pear cactus. It is a common desert wildflower that grows in arid regions throughout the southwest.

This picture was taken under overcast skies in early morning at Saguaro National Park west of Tucson, Arizona USA. As you can see the desert was exceptionally green that spring. Lupines and other desert wildflowers were plentiful everywhere.

This is in the Sonoran Desert. It is a very unique place. It is one of the lushest desert in the world in terms of flora and fauna yet also one of the hottest deserts on earth as well.

Note:
A polarizer was used and the picture was slightly underexposed which both tend to make colors stand out more but other than that no color adjustments whatsoever were applied to this image.