"There is something about wildflowers that touches us in a place too deep for words. A single flower, especially one at home in the wild, can take us back to seeing with the fresh eyes of a child; a whole landscape bursting with bloom can move us to laughter and tears of gratitude. It's almost impossible not to smile in the presence of a flower, not to feel more vital, more real. There is something about wildflowers that calls us to be more human, to live more honestly, to focus on what really matters, to laugh more, to care more.

Every state has its wildflower treasures. California is especially blessed-such diversity of habitats and such abundance of species and stunning floral displays. From seaside to desert, from Central Valley grasslands to snow-cloaked peaks, from rolling foothills to redwood forests, from granite Yosemite to volcanic Lassen and Shasta, from the "urban" Santa Monica Mountains to the wild and remote Klamath and Siskyou Mountains, from below sea level in Death Valley to the alpine summit of Mount Whitney-what a wonderland for us and for the flowers, each place a sacred heritage, a joy and a responsibility. As our population and land use grow, we run the risk of destroying the very treasures that keep us "grounded" and give us meaning beyond our own ideas and productions.

Already so many wild places and wild gardens have been lost to all but memory. Inexorably we push, we spread, we build. It is all part of our struggle to be human, to find a place, to leave a mark; but we also know that what we are losing is a vital part of our journey, too: a part of our humanness, a part of our "place."

There are many people working each day to preserve our wild heritage and our future; it is soul work, a gift to all of us whether we recognize it yet or not. Thank goodness for those who dedicate their lives to such work—it is vital to our survival and our being. Perhaps if we all took the time to focus on what really matters in our lives, we would love more, we would sing more, and we would follow the call of the flowers more."

- Laird Blackwell

The timeline/story below is in progress and will be updated over the next six weeks :-)