Saguaros!

This picture, a lovely gift from a friend in Utah, was too good to not pass along here.

No clue where this is from, other than somewhere near Phoenix, Arizona.

Here we have a nice northwestern Sonoran Desert scene, complete with Saguaro cacti (Carnegiea Gigantea) and Green Paloverdes (Parkinsonia Microphylla), along with some blurry other cacti and shrubs.  Saguaros tend to be found in the wetter portions of the Sonoran Desert, where they can establish easily in the double feature winter and summer rains.  They are also a bit cold sensitive, being killed if freezing temperatures persist more than 30 hours or so.  This largely accounts for their distribution in Arizona and Sonora.  Paloverdes are also interesting species, having bark which can act as leaves do and photosynthesize for the plant.  They actually lose their leaves (which are not really big anyway) in summer and grow them back in the wetter winter and spring.

Though the scene above does not look very alive at the moment, in a few months it will be rejuvenated by winter rains and wonderful sunny spring days.  The ground will be green with grasses, flowers will carpet the land as far as the eye can see, and the place will look like an exotic paradise.  Perhaps the best feature of a place like this is the smell, especially right after a rain.  It's so indescribable that you really have to go there and experience it to understand how this might be one of the best smelling places on the planet.

Oh, and nothing is cooler than Saguaros.  They just look awesome.