I wrote this song about Lycium fremontii when I was managing the native plant nursery of Desert Survivors on West Starr Pass in Tucson. The nursery is located right beside the Santa Cruz River at the base of A Mountain (Sentinel Peak). I used to perform the song whenever I did slide show talks and a version of it ended up on The Best of Growing Native Volume III. This is yet another version. I love the chorus and have always envisioned the song being part of a musical about Tucson or the Sonoran Desert that surrounds it. I’m looking for investors…I’m kidding.
I have so many 35 mm slides of this shrub and its flowers and fruit, but I took the photo used here from http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/ and by Tom Van Devender. He is a botanist, ecologist, biologist and wonderful fellow. I thank him.
For goodness sake, I forgot to mention the black-tailed jackrabbit’s ears! The large ears are magnificent parabolic reflectors that keep them well informed of...
Petey talks about brown headed cowbirds and their parasitic and intrusive ways.
The art is by Cicely Mary Barker. Friend Kat Armstrong sent it my way. Bless her heart. I had forgotten that fairies gather acorns...