Flowering Rosemary, DBG

I stumbled upon this LARGE BUSH of rosemary at the Desert Botanical Garden yesterday, after having lunch with Dr Desert Flower.

I had no idea rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) flowered, as the large bush of it we have in our front courtyard has never flowered before, but here this 5 foot high, by 8 feet wide shrub was, covered in deliciously fragrant blooms, attracting myriad honey bees and butterflies, right alongside the Native People's trail at the DBG.  I was transfixed for a good 10 minutes, watching this, drinking it in, bathed in the aroma. 

It was a wonderful respite in the middle of a +4 million person metropolis in December.  October through April are really the "tourist brochure" months here, when the temperatures stay below 100F, the humidity remains typically below 20% RH - as it does all year, except during monsoons when it shoots up to 50% or so for a few hours and everyone complains about how "sticky" it is.  Pollinating insects and birds are active all year long, and I'd say the "majority" of plant species appear to flower in the "below 100" months, when they are not fighting for their very survival to keep from being baked in the unrelenting inferno of the 115F summers.

I sure am glad there's no "limit" to the number of times one can visit the DBG after becoming a member there.  'Membership does have it's privileges' =)