(Press Staff Photo by Kendra Milligan)
California poppies cover the College Avenue neighborhood yard of Sandra Lucas and Mike Knight.
For such a tiny little flower, the poppy invokes a huge passion in the people of southwest New Mexico. These little blossoms of beauty pop up from March to May, adding a burst of springtime color to the desert, roadsides and gardens of the region.
For a good poppy crop or the much-coveted superbloom which covers hillsides in yellows and oranges rain is required in both November and March, according to Elroy Limmer, a retired arborist and past president of the Gila Native Plant Society.