Spring is upon us!

Winter seems to be over. Southern California can still get remarkable rain through March, but the plants aren't waiting around for it. Here's a (non-native) bulb that my neighbor Carol gave to me years ago. I've mistreated it ever since, appreciating only the brief splash of strappy green leaves. This year with my focus on native bulbs it got some spill over attention and look at what showed up! We'll be keeping tabs on those blooms.

Cercis occidentalis is budding out.  I have three, all planted from 1 gallon pots at the same time.  One is about twice the size of the others and it managed to hold on to a few leaves at the top of its branches all winter long.

The other two lost all their leaves but they seem to be a bit farther along the releafing curve at this point.

Roger's Red grape will soon be out of control.  I'll need to get that trellis built.  This was planted from a 1 gallon in fall of 2012, so it's been supported since then on the little bamboo plant stake, but that will last for about a nanosecond longer.

These are the coastal form of California poppies, Eschscholzia californica maritima  - the parent in the background (planted about a year ago) and its progeny in the foreground.  Two out of three of these poppy parents survived for a second season in the garden.