It’s been an exceptionally harsh year, weather-wise, not just in our neck of the woods, but everywhere it appears.  But in my area, where the growing season is already abysmally short and precipitation is always in short supply, our mild, bone-dry winter has unleashed a torrent of all kinds of burrowing and nibbling creatures.  Rabbits, voles, squirrels and other such creatures are laying waste to gardens all over our part of the state, from above and below.  Our yard is no exception, and even our “desert hardy” bed has been decimated.  We try planting and within a week the plants are gone.  A rose-bush I planted out front was pretty much razed. The Mexican primrose and other flowers, usually left alone, have been mowed to the ground.  It is beyond depressing.

One little plant is bravely trying to make a comeback.  In the midst of sand and gravel, there is this one little flower.

I have no idea how long this one will last.