You know spring has come to the Valley of the Sun when the acacia starts blooming in all bright radiant yellow. In some ways, it’s just like in New New England when the jonquils and forsythia are the first to bloom, also in yellow. Our feathery acacia is typically the first to bloom in the spring, but this year, without any freeze whatsoever, our bougainvillea are still in bloom from last year (you can see them over the wall) and even some of our lantana are already flowering.

Like just about everywhere else in the U.S. this was a strange winter. We had exactly one and a half days of light rain back in December, and then nothing. January and February have been bone dry, and since those are considered our wet months we may have to wait another 4-5 months and the monsson season for our next rainfall. You can really tell the strength of the sun these past couple of weeks, so the heat isn’t far behind.