Just in case it ever rains again, I am ready. I ordered this batch of wildflower seeds to broadcast just in advance of whenever the next heavy storm is projected to arrive, assuming sometime this fall or winter, so that seedlings can take advantage of the precipitation. The larger packages are full pounds of those species, ones known to have performed well for me in the past, while the smaller quantities are of less reliable or more experimental types.

To be truthful, I don’t even expect many of the experimental ones to germinate or survive to flowering size, but I figure that they are worth a try just in case I am pleasantly surprised. Most of the smaller packets cost only $1.25 and contain a few hundred to a few thousand seeds, and I will scatter them in a limited high-maintenance space right in front of my house where I water regularly, so they might actually stand a shot at success. If not, well then I threw $30 to the winds of chance. Not that big a deal if it doesn’t work. The ones I know that grew well with minimal aid from me will be distributed over a much broader area.

I am not going to scatter any seeds until there is a very high probability in the forecast of a good, soaking storm before the middle or maybe end of December. (Ideally, the month would be November and be at least 1.5 inches of rain, followed by other storms within a week or two after that. That’s the setup for a really good regional desert wildflower display the next spring.) If I do it sooner and without generous rain in the immediate forecast, all I will accomplish is the feeding of harvester ants and various birds and mice; and while I don’t mind seed eating birds and even ants, I’m not throwing out $200 worth of wildflower seed for them in the dry season long before there’s any legitimate chance of germination. If this theoretical rainstorm does not materialize before December (and it may not!) then I will keep the seeds in storage until 2019. Most of these plants are cool-season growing annuals, and if the storms are too late then there will not be enough time for them to develop into blooming-size plants. In which case it’s better to wait. That’s the way of the desert.