It is perhaps the earliest in 11 winters I have been spending in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona that the wildflowers have begun. The Filaree or Common Cranesbill, a member of the wild geranium family, is usually the first. It’s kind of the Crocus of the desert; early and hardy. But January 24th? That’s just crazy. It has been an unusually mild winter so far. Moisture has come at just the right intervals. And remember, flowers bloom when conditions are perfect.