Indio, California

My favorite desert plant isn’t cactus. Actually I hate cacti…

But I love ocotillo!

Ocotillo can grow up to 15 feet tall and 15 feet wide. They are usually leafless through most of the year, and they produce leaves after significant precipitation. When drought happens, they shed their leaves to reduce plant evaporation. Given sufficient spring rain, ocotillos produce bright red-orange flowers on the ends of their branch tips.

I love their shape when they are leafless.

I love the color of their leaves when they first come out.

I love the way the leaves grow out of the tops of the thorns on their spines.

And I love their  blossoms.

But now I have a confession to make…

I really do love ocotillos, but the main reason for this post and all of the pictures is so that I have all the images and informationI need so that I can have Rich make me one out of metal once he has a shop again.

But then we went to Shields Date Garden, and I saw this!

I’m pretty sure Rich can make me one with red blossoms! 🙂