This Week in Wildflower Gardening

Here he is! This is Chaplain Maj. Steve Eddy with the wildflower seedlings he has grown at Camp Virginia in the desert in Kuwait. Maj. Eddy is stationed there with an American Army reserve unit from Sacramento, CA, as they prepare soldiers for duty just over the border in Iraq. Steve emailed and told me he took some of our seed with him, and planted it to "add new life in a lifeless desert, color in a colorless place". Finally, his photo arrived showing the seedlings, but the best part is his news. He and his unit of 400 will be COMING HOME in a week or two after over a year on active duty. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and hundreds of others will be there for their homecoming. We are really honored this man made such meaningful use of some of our little seeds in the course of his very big job. We salute Chaplain Eddy, and his whole unit. We've emailed that all arms are open! Welcome home!

Welcome to Wildflowers, 2005. Our southwestern deserts are bursting into bloom right now, and early reports predict a really spectacular desert wildflower bloom this year. The Spring Wildflower Wave always begins in the deserts, then lights up the California coast, (photo) rolls eastward into Texas for big bloom in Mar/Apr, and then on to the midwest and east coast, where it rolls from south to north, finishing in May. For the bloom right now, go to the excellent DesertUSA website, which has photos, details, and daily wildflower reports. Another great site to visit is this one, now reporting early bloom: Wildflower Watch at Anza-Borrego State Park, California.