A worker at the Bin Salman farm among freshly picked Damascena (Damask) roses, which are used to produce rose water and oil. Every spring, roses bloom in the western Saudi city of Taif, transforming pockets of the kingdom's vast desert landscape into fragrant pink patches. And for one month in April, they produce an essential oil that is used to clean the outer walls of the sacred Kaaba, the cubic structure in the holy city of Makkah. AFP

Roses bloom in the Saudi Arabian desert - in pictures