Do you know the history of the tulip? How about the daffodil? Unless you know all about Tulipomania, Clusius, and the stories about a goddess named Echo and a handsome youth named Narcissus, you’ll enjoy our article on the history of these two flowers. The perfect conversation starters for spring. Click here.
This photo was taken at Gorman, CA. According to the California Wildflower Hotsheet (See link at right.) Gorman is beautifully in bloom this year, right now. The area may be a few days past peak, but compared to most places, it’s unforgettable. Easterners, still with cold and mud, can only dream about such a magnificent display–one [...]
Eat your heart out, Easterners. This is when the California coastal hills put on one of the biggest natural wildflower shows in the world. Several species of lupine (left), golden California poppies and other natives carpet the grassy hills made emerald green by spring. This photo is by master photographer, Don Paulson.
Here it comes. The Wildflower Wave hits Texas in April, and if you’ve never seen their unique wildflower bloom, plan a trip. The big show of bluebonnets, paintbrush, wild phlox and others is mostly in the “Hill Country” around Fredericksburg, and there are all kinds of maps, hotlines and other helps for flower chasers. You [...]
The hills are alive with wildflowers. From the Anza-Borrego State Park down by the Mexican border (photo at left taken there March 12), all the way up the state, California’s magnificent spring has begun. While the east shivers in snow and cold, just look what’s happening! Reports from Joshua Tree (west of LA), and Lake Elsinore say it [...]
“The Wildflower Wave” we follow each spring has begun. The Southwestern deserts are lighting up with color while snow and cold continue in most of the country. If you’d like to follow along, here are two fascinating sites that are updated daily, with reports and photos of what’s happening. Yes, the wildflowers are in bloom: [...]
Each spring, we follow the bloom of No. America’s wildflowers that begins in the Southwestern Deserts–yes, in February–and rolls across the continent . At Anza-Borrego State Park in California, down beside the Mexican border, the flowers are already starting to open. After lighting up the Southern California hills (photo), the “Wildflower Wave” will roll eastward. During [...]
We have a great new page on the site about Dahlias–gorgeous photos, lots of how-to info, etc. It’s called “An Addiction to Dahlias” and that’s what you’ll have if you begin growing them. Our Spring Bulb section is now live and on sale for spring, so you can dream about these beauties all winter. Take a look: [...]
Did you know that daffodils are still common in the wild? Well, the ancestral home of many favorite daffodil species is the Ukraine, and a famous valley there has been protected. This is the homeland of the very famous “Poet’s Daffodil”, sometimes called “Old Pheasant’s Eye”. A newer version of it is “Actaea.” It’s most [...]
Our member, Diana Nellans, and her husband recently ventured down to Mexico to visit the celebrated ancestral home valley of the famous Monarch Butteflies. After their long migration from Western North American, millions of the butterflies congregate in several specific valleys in Central Mexico. The Nellans were kind enough to send their photos and story [...]
