A Southern California couple has found hope — in the form of flowers — after losing their home in a devastating fire.

In 2003, Michael and Mary Bright lost "their life's possession" after a wildfire engulfed their Claremont, Calif., house, according to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times. Despite that destruction, several months after the fire, the Brights noticed that "signs of life began poking from the blackened ground," according to the story. "Wildflowers unlike any they had seen began to bloom: whispering bells, yellow-throated phacelia, fire poppies and Michael's favorite, the foothill mariposa lily, among others."

Working with experts from the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, California Native Plant Society and Palomar College, the couple eventually identified 150 species of flowers. The high heat of the fire and the nitrous oxide in the smoke helped to germinate many of the long-dormant native flower seeds in the year following the blaze, said Michael Bright to the Times.

The Brights plan to publish a book about their post-fire floral experiences soon.

--Mary Westbrook
mwestbrook@safnow.org

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