Every spring, the central part of the country (Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Iowa and Texas) known as Tornado Alley braces itself for the onslaught of bad weather. Between March and May, this part of the country faces the danger of tornadoes.

Texas typically receives the most tornadoes. I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I suspect a large part of that reason is that it's common for the warm and moist air from the Gulf of Mexico to collide with cooler dry air from the Rocky Mountains or further north.

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I often hear apartment dwellers talk about wanting to have a garden but they say they feel frustrated or unhappy because they feel as though this is something beyond the reach of the average apartment dweller. As someone who has been living in apartments in various places for over 30 years, I can tell you that this isn't entirely true. Granted, it depends a lot on where you live and whether your apartment consists solely of a building or if you have several buildings.

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One cannot think of spring in Texas without thinking of wildflowers: the two are nearly synonymous. The state owes a real debt of gratitude to the late Lady Bird Johnson, because it is she who embarked on a state wide beautification program and started the yearly tradition whereby the DOT goes all over the state and dumps no less than 3,000 pounds of wildflower seed all along the highways.  

Ratibida 'Mexican Hat'

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