I made a recent visit to Saguaro National Park on the west side of Tucson.
It is incredible to see thousands of saguaros undisturbed.
Saguaros begin life as tiny black seeds. Only a few will germinate under the shade cover of a nurse plant. They begin flowering when they are about 8' tall. Their flowers appear from April through May and the fruit ripens by June. Each fruit contains up to 2000 seeds and the fruit is like candy to many desert animals. When saguaros reach about 75 years old, they might begin to sprout "arms." The tallest saguaros can weigh up to 7 tons and grow taller than a 4 story building.
They seldom live more than 200 years old.
