Mid-spring in the small city garden.

Spring is a nebulous concept in coastal California. Summer is the big thing here. It goes on and and on. But that's next month. What is it like today?

It's pretty!



Ceanothus, at its peak.



The flowers are already starting to fall.



I think the colors here look better in the summer when the big leafy greens are gone and replaced by red dahlias with black leaves.







The native perennial bunch grasses start to seem more reasonable this time of year. Not like they blew in with the weeds.





I continue to follow Bonnie's advice to neglect my artichoke as much as possible.



It seems to be working.



The mustard bloom is almost over.



I have to start getting summer vegetables ready. I haven't even started tomatoes. Usually, I have them ready for planting by mid-March. But this year I'm waiting until mid-May. They don't start bearing until the end of June anyway, and maybe this way they'll have less time to get mildew.



Some day my Fremontodendron will bloom on and off all year. For now it's just spring and some summer.



The Tibouchina has already made that transition. The summer of '08 I didn't water it at all and I think that made it cranky. It's been more generous with flowers since I started to water it once a month.



Up on the roof 'Little Beaut[ies]' are blooming in the bulb pan. They're always a month earlier than the 'Little Princess[es]'. I wonder why.



The bulb pan is a work in progress. I add a few things every year, and hope that what's already there gets a little bigger. The pan and the bulbs it contains sit here on the roof all year long exposed to the elements. During the winter, I scrape off an inch or two of last year's soil and top dress with the fresh stuff. No water, no fertilizer, and, so far, no lifting or dividing.