GardenBook

  I have not attended the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show for two years , after a s***storm of negative reviews blew up Yelp the first two days of the  2017 event. Reports from people I know weren't much better. The show had been in decline for several years and after the horrible publicity from  2017 it was moved back the the Cow Palace-the site of it's glory days-for 2018. The speaker line up seemed pretty solid but the exhibitor list did not inspire me to attend.  Inexplicably the show announced this February a sudden move to Cal Expo in Sacramento for the 2019 show . There is anecdotal information that the show vendors were not advised of this change of venue until January, not much more than two months before the publicized dates. Scheduling conflicts were cited by the show organizers. My personal speculation is that the very small footprint of the show would have been overwhelmed by empty space at the Cow Palace, and that there was not enough vendor participation t

 It seems like it rained the entire month of February. As much as we summer-dry climate gardeners wish for rain, ill-timed and protracted deluges can become a little depressing. The rain is okay, but the explosion of weed growth, and the unfavorable conditions for pulling (pouring rain, muddy heavy soil) becomes overwhelming. I am now grateful to be at the end of a full week with no rain. The soil in some areas is still saturated but sunny days with the bonus of daylight savings means I could finally embark on my customary 1/2 hour a day minimum of weeding after work. I like weeding, it's great for post-office decompression, and I have found that these brief sessions on weekday evenings reduce the feelings of weed despair because  good results are clear every time.  I feel as though our spring is late this year but I didn't post on March Bloomday last year so I have no real comparison. This year though it's all about the Euphorbias and Hellebores. Carol over at May Dreams

 In February we got somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 inches of rain on the valley floor, and as always the hills that encircle us got several inches more. Rivers and creeks were swollen , our flood gates in the city were deployed and we were  spared the major flooding that was experienced by our  neighbors on the Russian River. It is gratifying to know the the decade long flood control project on the Napa River has in fact done exactly what it was meant to do-restoring wetland flood plains that direct the waters into safe spaces, and away from the city streets. I'm ready for some sun, and it looks like after the next series of storms we might have at least one full week that is dry. It will be a long time before I have to water anything.  During the last big rain event we had 3 hailstorms in one day, and the results will be shared here for Tell the Truth Tuesday, the brainchild of our friend Alison over at Bonney Lassie . Snail damage will be included for unsightly-ness bonus p