People sigh, “I have to have four seasons, so Phoenix isn’t for me.” But we have four seasons. Subtle, yes, but beautiful. In Spring we often have cold fronts come through, followed by rain. The cold front clouds look like plowed fields.
Early morning cold front
Citrus trees, many of which still have fruit, begin to set buds. These are hard-working trees. In a few weeks, the buds will open, filling the air with the real smell of orange blossoms. It’s incredible.
By September this grapefruit bud will be the size of a softball.
Succulents are next, sending out colorful buds. The gopher plant is new, so I have no idea what will develop.
The gopher plant that survived the frost is now ready to bloom.
Succulent in bud. Does this create a new plant?
I’m delighted that this plant made it. It’s in a pot with several others and we brought it in to avoid the frost, and put it back out so as not to warm it up too fast. Lots of work!
Cactus creating a bud? a branch?
Cacti have a long spring. They both bloom and set new branches. I’m not sure which one this will be, I’ve been fooled before.
And that’s just the beginning. There will be wild flowers and grasses, the ocotillo will bloom, too. We have a long Spring here, and a beautiful one.
—Quinn McDonald is a writer and artist, and a creativity coach as well. She lives in Phoenix.
QuinnCreative 
Oh, I’m glad you mentioned the name of the clouds! I take tons of photos of the clouds (on those days we have them!) but I don’t know what any of them are! I forgot to ask, are all the plants in these photos in your yard? It must be beautiful!
wonderful photos. I have never seen cloud formations like that before, amazing.
They are typical of an cold air pushing in over warmer air. Cirrocumulus clouds in Phoenix are great rain predictors. Not monsoon rains, but winter rains.
I’m allergic to every tree, weed and grass in AZ, so I’m not all that eager for spring to get here. Our citrus trees are still loaded with thousands of lemons and grapefruits. We haven’t had any flowers or buds yet. I can handle about one whiff of their scent and then I’m done with spring! Calgon, take me away… Oh, I would love to be where there is snow!!
Ah, yes, it’s Claritan time! (Sorry about your allergies).
You are making me very jealous. we are supposed to have snow tomorrow.
In June, July and August, when our temperatures never go below 100, not even at night, we can speak again of jealousy.