(thoughtful piano music) (birds chirping)
- Every day we come this time of year,
the flowers change.
Every day, they're just spectacular.
This is a gift.
It's a gift.
I feel like a forest bloom.
You come here, your roots go down,
and all your creative juices flow.
(thoughtful piano music) (water splashing)
- I've never seen this and it's beyond what I imagined.
It's just very, very beautiful.
You know, this vivid color
up against the starkness of the mountains
and the cactus and everything.
It's just really like popping.
- Good morning!
How we doing?
Here's a map.
I'll get your change.
I'll be right back.
Okay?
So everywhere you go, you're gonna see flowers.
Okay? - Yeah.
- And that whole area is really gorgeous.
Promise? Yes sir, I do. - Alright.
- I do.
- We had a very wet summer and fall,
very unusual for this area.
The flowers are directly related to rainfall
and moisture availability.
So we were hoping for a good season
and it seems to have turned out
that we got a spectacular season.
- Last year, we actually hiked this up to the saddle.
So we just came back to see the wild flowers
and it's beautiful.
It's so green, so green.
- We've been coming down here since like 2011
and I've never seen the green ground cover
in this area of the state as much as ever.
It's incredible.
- My name's Joe Faulkner.
I'm retired.
I live up in the Phoenix area.
Lived there since November of '17
so this is my second spring time
chasing wildflowers in Arizona.
This is about the 12th, 15th time I've been here.
It's the most beautiful
I have been lucky enough to capture it.
I couldn't believe it because the lupine are also blooming
along with the poppies which are the major attraction.
- I love the wildflower blooms.
I wish they would happen more often.
When I started here in 2005,
that was the banner year
that every other year has been compared to.
So you know, I'm very thrilled to see it like this again
because we really haven't had anything like it
in a decade and a half.
People pick the flowers
not knowing how dependent they are on moisture
and sadly, you can truly see that within 15 minutes,
they wilt once they're picked.
So you know, very, very sad thing to see.
We ask everybody that they leave the poppies
so they can seed out
and there will be more poppies next year
or in future years, you know?
Basically don't pick your grandchildren's poppies.
You know? (laughs)
- Arizona, I think,
is just an absolutely magical natural place.
- Every day you go out, you see something different.
And if your eyes are open and you're going slow enough,
you get to pay attention and it's all there.