Imagine
Imagine all the most searing yellows from Van Gogh’s sunflowers, the most sumptuously gorgeous reds and oranges of O’Keefe’s poppies, and the smoky blues and magentas made familiar by Monet’s water lilies. Spread these colors over a landscape as far as the eye can see. Hold tight to that image in your mind while I tell you where this landscape lies: in Death Valley, California, 280 feet below sea level, where summer temperatures can rise to 200 degrees. Record rainfalls (6 inches – three times the average) and early warm temperatures have caused seeds that have lain dormant for 50 years to break dormancy and the plants to bloom prodigiously. Their entire reproductive cycle will be complete in a matter of weeks; their extremely heat- resistant and drought-tolerant seeds will again lie dormant until next spring’s rains might cause a few gullies and patches of them to bloom again.
People who keep track of such things are telling us that this year’s blooming season throughout the Southwest, is the best that has been seen in 50 years.
Sara Stein Memorial
Honorary Wild Ones Director, Sara Stein, author of Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards, passed away peacefully Friday morning, February 26th, at her home in Vinalhaven, Maine. A special memorial fund has been established by her family for the Vinalhaven Public Library Native Garden.