Both preservation of the natural ecology of an area and the exclusion of invasive species are
of the utmost importance to us.  We do not sell seeds of endangered species or of species or
populations which would be threatened by seed collecting, and we are careful not to have any
effect on plant communities as a result of our collecting.  This is one of the reasons we don't
sell bulk quantities, nor do we sell bulbs.
 
     Also, following guidelines from the "Symposium on Invasive Plants" at the Chicago Botanical
Garden in 2002, and in accordance with the "Voluntary Codes of Conduct" of the Saint Louis
Declaration of the "Invasive Plant Species Workshop", convened by the Missouri Botanical
Garden and by the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, in 2001, we are taking great care to exclude
noxious weeds, adventive plants, and invasive species from our catalogue.
 
Drought.  We are currently in the midst of an extended drought, the likes of which has never
occurred in our memory.  It began in 1999 and has gone like this.  The average annual rainfall in
Tucson is 12.17 inches.  The actual rainfall has been:  1999--9.68 inches, 2000--12.44",
2001--7.81", 2002--7.84", 2003--10.05", 2004--7.62", 2005--9.58", 2006--11.80", and
the rainfall recorded in  2007 was 9.78", extending the drought for yet another year.  In addition to
the drought, 2007 was the ninth straight year of above normal temperatures in Tucson.   The problem       
seems to be mainly with the absence of Pacific moisture, which falls mostly in the winter.  The
monsoon, which derives mostly from the Gulf of Mexico, is all we've had to keep us going.  When
speculating on what would cause the Pacific to "dry up", one possibility comes to mind, which is
cooling of the currents by melting polar ice, causing these "la Nina" conditions.  Also, global 
warming seems to be pushing the dry Mexican winters northward.  As of June 15th  we're already
more than an inch and a half below normal for 2008.