Celebrate the desert's dazzling plants at ‘Xerophilous'

APRIL IN THE CALIFORNIA DESERT? It's a month you could confidently deem especially "festival-forward," thanks to all of the sizable under-the-sun celebrations. These parties are usually awash in art, and live music, too, and a plethora of panache-filled performances. But an excess of ocotillos and plenty of prickly pear cactuses, these larks usually lack, even if desert plants just happen to be present. But there is a botanical bash popping up in the festival-y fourth month, and it has a name that would look quite splendid on any concert banner: Xerophilous. Nope, that isn't your favorite new band, but it does hint at the wonderful fact that lovers of desert flora will have a place to learn about, and love upon, the prickly, stickly, oh-so-spectacular specimens of the arid landscape.

THE LIVING DESERT... is the place for this weekend-long desert love-in, which will pay homage to "... desert plant life and the conservation of their habitats." Garden tours, the opportunity to shop for native plants, and other events will sprout at the Palm Desert destination over the first weekend of April. A big bonus? Botanical pros will be in attendance, giving desert devotees lots of insight into this incredible landscape. And a signature cocktail will add a lovely libation-centered note to the festivities. "The desert tells a different story every time one ventures on it," shared The Living Desert's Curator of Gardens Mack Nash. "We invite all who love desert flora to join us for a weekend of discovery and celebration!"

1,200 PLANTS: Chances are good that you'll get to know more than a few of the hundreds (literally) of plants that dot the dazzling desertscape; there are over 1,200 to get to know. Getting into "Xerophilous"? Events are included with your admission or membership to The Living Desert.