If you love wildflowers ...

I'm delighted to announce a new blog that features the wildflowers of Brevard County, Florida. Long-time friend Wayne Matchett has gathered his hundreds of wildflower photos into one location - the result is Space Coast Wildflowers, and it's a dandy reference. Wayne has gone to considerable effort to provide locations, closeup and context photos, common and scientific names, reference material, and labels. (As you wildflower aficianados know, a closeup photo of a wildflower can make a tiny flower look really big, so having the context photos really gives you a sense of scale.) As the site's title notes, this is a growing collection. As I write this, Wayne and his wife are braving the heat and humidity to hunt for wildflowers in St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park.

My Eco blog has "field trip reports" on some of the locations Wayne has identified in his posts, but not all - he really gets around! At some point, we plan to collaborate on a four-fold reference brochure.

Wayne's contact information is on his site - if you have questions, corrections, or comments, he'll be pleased to hear from you.

On a separate note, today is the 66th anniversary of D-Day and the invasion that turned the tide of World War II. When I bought my Buddy Poppy for Memorial Day and thanked the elderly Veteran for his service, he said "Oh, that was a long time ago." I suspect he was a Korean War Vet. It's hard to believe the WW II vets are in their late 80s and 90s now. The Orlando Sentinel carried this story about the invasion and its terrible toll on the troops. As always, our thanks for Warfighters past and present.