Etc...

Take-out for serious eat-ins

When a group of Australian inmates seized control of the maximum security Risdon Prison in Hobart late last week, prison officials were confronted with a list of 24 demands for improving living conditions. Addressing one, however, proved particularly effective in achieving a resolution and in securing the release of a guard who'd been held for two days. The guard was freed after the delivery of 15 pizzas, a good-faith gesture that facilitated negotiations that ended the crisis.

While millions of tourists descend on America's tended gardens each year, many also enjoy a spectacular variety of wildflowers, whether in parks and highland meadows, or along roadways, which is often the case with Texas bluebonnets. The National Wildlife Federation has compiled a list of top US wildflower destinations, led by Crested Butte, Colo. It is home to the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, where nature lovers come each July to enjoy workshops, tours, and exhibits, as well as to photograph, paint, draw, plant, cook, and plant wildflowers. This year's festival is July 11-17. The best wildflower destinations with examples of what flowers each is known for:

1. Crested Butte, Colo. wild irises, Indian paintbrushes, mariposa lilies [Editor's note: The original version located Crested Butte in Idaho.]
2. Florida Everglades orchids, scarlet hibiscus, pine lily, coreopsis
3. Jackson, Wyo. yellowbells, shooting stars, scarlet gilia
4. Texas Hill Country bluebonnets
5. Mount Washington, N.H. Robbins' cinquefoil
6. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina, Tennessee) Turk's-cap lily, black-eyed Susan
7. Columbia River Gorge Columbia desert parsley, Hood River milk-vetch
8. Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve (near Lancaster, Calif.) California poppies, lupine, cream cups