George and his friend Al Weichold kept honey bees in the Phoenix, Arizona area from about 1966 to about 1992. During that time they learned a lot about how to produce honey in Arizona. One of the secrets of producing honey was to follow the "honeyflow" which is the opening of the flowers that produced the nectar that the bees turned into honey. Thus, George and Al had to know the flowering plants of Arizona and when the flowering plants would bloom. They also had to know which plants would not produce honey. George also taught High School Life Science and Environmental Science from 1983 until 2003 in the Phoenix Area. Part of his class that he taught was the "Merriam Life Zones Of Arizona" in which the living organisms in the areas are determined by the factors of temperature and available water which are also influenced by the various elevations found within the State Of Arizona. In 1889 C. Hart Merriam studied the distribution patterns of plants and animals in a broad swathe from the lower elevations of the Grand Canyon to the top of Humphreys Peak (elevation 12, 760 ft) in the San Francisco Mountains near Flagstaff, Arizona. Based on his observations in the field, Merriam developed the concept of a Life Zone, a belt of vegetation and animal life that is similarly expressed with increases in altitude and increases in latitude. These Life Zones (sometimes called "Vegetative Communities") are unique groupings of plants and animals based on elevation. These communities take into account the fact that for every 1000 feet gain in elevation the temperature drops 3 degrees F and the precipitation increases as well. The plants and animals you'll likely encounter in the life zone depends upon the varying elevations as you climb up a mountain or "sky island" in Arizona such as the Santa Catalina Mountains. Keep in mind that what you will see when you visit each vegetative community is dependent on the season of the year and the amount of precipitation for that year. Over the years Merriam's Life Zones have been changed and modified as new information has been researched and revealed. But, they are basically the same as when Merriam did his original work on the subject. George will present on the following pages what he has learned about flowering plants in Arizona as a Beekeeper and Life Science Instructor. No attempt is being made here to present a detailed scientific page on the subject. Every plant in Arizona will not be shown. George hopes that these pages might be simply of interest to anyone who wants to learn about the beautiful wildflowers and plants of Arizona. Over the past fifty years Phoenix has became less agricultural and more urban. Therefore some of the photos on this page will also show how native plants and some not so native plants are used in todays Xeriscape (low water use) landscaping in Arizona. George still lives in the Glendale area, in an urban neighborhood about a quarter mile from where he kept his bees. George never thought that population changes would have effected the Glendale and Peoria area as much as it has done! Glendale and Peoria have certainly grown. People now are afraid of Honeybees. Laws have been passed outlawing beekeeping in urban areas. George often wonders; since bees are absolutely necessary for much of our food production, what will be our future without bees? Another practice that he wonders about is that over the 65 years he has lived in the Greater Phoenix Area, almost all of the very rich agricultural land has been covered with cement and buildings as the area has grown. Where will our food come from? And, do we have enough water to continue building lakes, swimming pools, golf courses, and landscaping on our urban areas the way that we are now doing? Even though the winter of 2004 and the spring of 2005 has been one of the wettest seasons we have ever had in our recorded history, we are still considered to be in a time of drought! George hopes it will all work out. Only time will tell! The winter of 2007 and the early spring of 2008 have experienced a better than average amount of rain. Since the abundance of wild flowers is largely determined by the rainfall during that time period, we should have a wonderful wildflower season. We hope that you will have the opportunity to visit the desert and experience a wonderful wild flower season. Remember, several plants found in the early blooming, lower elevation, Sonoran Desert or Mohave Desert can be found blooming at later times in the other elevations of the Merrium Life Zones of Arizona. So, if you miss the blooming time of any of these plants, just wait 15-45 days and look for them at higher elevations. You probably will be able to see them!