Is spring in the air?

David777 said:
California has only wet and dry seasons unlike the Eastern US. We are still very much in the winter season and in fact a large Pacific AR storm is forecast for tonight. Earliest USA spring like vegetation conditions occur in the Southwest desert areas of California and Arizona. Death Valley National Park lower elevations have peak wildflowers during wet winters by mid February.

But not this 2024/2025 winter as our deserts have been very dry. Here in Northern California, we have had moderate storms so landscapes are now nicely greening up. However, because of still cool temperatures, most native plants won't start to flower until mid March.

Thus along our central coast regions, our green flowery spring with its many microclimates due to the adjacent Pacific Ocean, is about mid March through early May. Our earliest spring wildflowers are in coastal range mountains above frequent marine clouds and latest along immediate coastal shores.
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I lived in Northern California from 1976 until I retired in 2018. I remember when we first moved there when I was in high school, I noticed all the fields were yellow instead of green and that never changed. Mark Twain once said that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. lol. Not really true but kinda funny.

I will miss the spring California poppies and blue lupine but I’m sure there are pretty blossoms here too.
 

TinaM said:
View attachment 401083Wishful thinking. I know official spring isn’t until March 20, which can’t come soon enough.

It will be my first spring in south western Missouri. I moved to this state last summer.

What are your first signs of spring?
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Great thread topic! Thank you, Tina M! :)

When the snowcover first melts, here in New England, each year, the grass is all brown.
It takes some days but not too many, till it begins to turn into green grass.

I watch closely each day, or I'd miss the changeover altogether, and it would seem to have occurred all in a single day! :geek:

In addition, Sometimes the earliest bulbs have broken ground already, before the snow and ice fully 🫠 melts. I love to see those sprouting up.

Those sprouts quickly become recognizable, as tulips or daffodils or hyacinth, though the very first ones in my flower beds are crocus bulbs.

So welcome, they are!

The delightful perennial wild type of pansies, and johnny-jump-ups, are not far behind, among the earliest harbingers of Spring!
 
Another sign of Spring, hereabouts, is that some of the small wild birds change the colors of their feathers, into their more recognizable plummage.
Especially the American goldfinches, who are not their infamous bright yellow golden, until Springtime is well in hand!
 
David777 said:
California has only wet and dry seasons unlike the Eastern US. We are still very much in the winter season and in fact a large Pacific AR storm is forecast for tonight. Earliest USA spring like vegetation conditions occur in the Southwest desert areas of California and Arizona. Death Valley National Park lower elevations have peak wildflowers during wet winters by mid February.

But not this 2024/2025 winter as our deserts have been very dry. Here in Northern California, we have had moderate storms so landscapes are now nicely greening up. However, because of still cool temperatures, most native plants won't start to flower until mid March.

Thus along our central coast regions, our green flowery spring with its many microclimates due to the adjacent Pacific Ocean, is about mid March through early May. Our earliest spring wildflowers are in coastal range mountains above frequent marine clouds and latest along immediate coastal shores.
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Here in the High Desert(Alt:4000+ ft.) we got some snow last week. Pictured is looking South at the Wrightwood area in the San Gabriel Mt.s. 2rd pic is East, looking at the neighbors place:
 

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PeppermintPatty said:
Not around our house, it’s not. It was -3 today , felt like -9. I think it will take a couple of months before we feel spring like weather.
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We've had similar temps, this past week here. Nothing at all like Spring weather for months, here too.!

But the days are definitely light longer, and rapidly increasing in that direction, so some of the snow and ice melts, in afternoon sunny spots.
 
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Kaila said:
We've had similar temps, this past week here. Nothing at all like Spring weather for months, here too.!

But the days are definitely light longer, and rapidly increasing in that direction, so some of the snow and ice melts, in afternoon sunny spots.
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Oh Yes. The days definitely ARE longer. I hadn’t thought about that aspect of it. Yes indeed.
 
Nathan said:
Here in the High Desert(Alt:4000+ ft.) we got some snow last week. Pictured is looking South at the Wrightwood area in the San Gabriel Mt.s. 2rd pic is East, looking at the neighbors place:
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Nathan, is your desert plateau continuous out east to the Grand Canyon rim? I don't know much about U.S. geology. I've been to Grand Canyon a couple times, and I seem to remember its elevation is only maybe a thousand feet higher than yours.
 
JBR said:
Nathan, is your desert plateau continuous out east to the Grand Canyon rim? I don't know much about U.S. geology. I've been to Grand Canyon a couple times, and I seem to remember its elevation is only maybe a thousand feet higher than yours.
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Interesting question, this area of the Mojave Desert is in Victor Valley, which extends East, and according to Wikipedia- South of Barstow. Along the way the elevation generally drops, Barstow being at about 2100 ft. Going further East the elevation rises again to a 4200 ft. summit at Halloran Springs. From there the elevation drops steady, leading to the Las Vegas/Lake Mead/Colorado River area(Elevation:1200-2000ft.). Further on, the Grand Canyon West Rim is about 4800 ft. in elevation.
 
Up there in the Joshua trees and late summer yellow blooming rabbitbush.

I was stationed a few months out there in the desert at nearby George Air Force Base during the Viet Nam War and also went TDY to March AFB near Riverside. After wet winters some interesting wildflower areas in those foothills.
 
Spring is definitely in the air here. We tied a record at 81 degrees today. We visited the Dallas Arboretum and the Tulip bulbs were already starting to come up.

We have 8 flower pots with drains in our courtyard. We have our landscaper replace them in the Spring and Fall. We took out the summer plants a couple of weeks ago and won't be replacing them until March. This week will be in the 80's. Next week will be in the low 50's. There are few plants that will thrive under those temperature swings.
 
HermitHogan said:
It was in the 70s today around noon. I took a little nap and by the time I got up (around 2:00), the temperature had dropped to 47°F. Guess I should have gotten out earlier.
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We had mid 70s yesterday so I planned to take the dogs on a river walk today. Woke up to cloudy, windy, and very cold!🥶
 
In Eureka, the worst month of Winter was almost always March. Sometimes the plants don't what to do. We had these two big Rhododendron bushes in front of our house. (A Rhododendron bush there is commonly referred to as a Rhody bush.) One year we had two false Springs and a false Fall, which triggered them to bloom five times. The most I had ever seen them do is three times in one year.
 
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