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.