Mexican Bird of Paradise - or not...

These are all over the place - About.com lists this plant, with many pictures, as one of the 7 easy plants to grow in the Phoenix area. You can see them along the highways and in yards all over the valley. They bloom for quite a long time, too, so they brighten up the summer nicely (at least they do based on my one full summer's experience!).

Now for the fun part. It's really a Red Bird of Paradise. The Mexican one is a yellow-flowering tree. Kind of like the American Bison isn't a buffalo, but don't tell Buffalo Bill! Bison Bill doesn't have the same ring to it...