John Wiens has worked in the botany department at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum since 1985. John was lead author on the publication Vegetation and Vascular Flora of Ironwood Forest National Monument, Pima and Pinal Counties, Arizona after nearly 30 years of filed work in the 135,000 acre Ironwood Forest National Monument, designated in 2000. He has assisted in editing and has been published in multiple botanical books (such as Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Conservation in Northern Mexico; Desert Gardens, a Photographic Tour of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum) and journals, including Madrono, Sonorensis, and The Plant Press. He lives in Tucson, Arizona with his wife, Julie. Anne Orth Epple is the author of eleven books. She and her husband, Lewis Epple, spent five years photographing, researching, and writing about the 900 plants in this guide. Anne is a retired flower show judge, lecturer, and award-winning flower designer.
