Broomweed rests in the background, its foliage green and unnoticed among spring and summer wildflowers and waving grass. As the nights turn cooler and monsoon rains offer the high desert much appreciated moisture, broomweed steps into the limelight with a chorus line of tall, showy golden flowerettes that announce autumn is imminent.

While this miniature pastel is about unexpected color in the Davis Mountains, I added extra bling in the form of unexpected detail in a painting this small.