by Joan Dudney I’d been waiting in anticipation, obsessively checking flower updates and blog posts. I daydreamed about becoming a flower blogger myself, but I had a dissertation to write that increasingly stressed my life. Spring is my favorite time of year in California’s lowlands. I knew based on my dissertation chapter that when the rains fall heavy following a previous dry year, the wildflowers flourish. This year the elements had aligned, and my heart leapt at the thoug

by Naomi Fraga When I first heard about Plant Love Stories, I had one thought. Must follow! I am a plant nut. Everyone who knows me knows it, and I can’t even try to hide it. I wanted to contribute, but I had a huge dilemma. Which plant love story do I tell?! I have so many, and when it comes to plants, my love travels far and wide. So I narrowed it down to tell the tale of my current love affair. Here is my love story with the one, the only, Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila mo

by Paul Elsen One of the saddest part of moving across the country was having to find a new home for all the plants we have collected over the years. Some of them track the history of our relationship and the history of the places in which we have lived. It is impossible to choose a favorite, but one becomes accustomed, over a decade, to be surrounded by the same plants – they help to make a house a home. For example: We had plants we received as housewarming gifts in our fir

by Thomas Oberbauer For a number of years during the mid 1970’s, I searched for rare plants on San Clemente Island in southern California. At this time, feral goats ranged over the island. The canyon bottoms were covered with goat droppings, the lower slopes on the island were nearly barren from goat grazing and browsing, and the scent of goats was ever present owing to the droppings and the occasional rotting carcass of a goat that died of natural causes. During those visits