If you want early spring bloom, plant some hellebores. Around here, they start blooming in early February!
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Tomatoes are very resilient little suckers! I doubt your husband will kill them. You can plant them outside as soon as the danger of frost has passed (not an issue in your area, likely)!
For the bleeding hearts, I havenāt tried Gold Heart yet. I do prefer the green leaf but itās always fun to have something a little different. I have the classic one and the white-flowered ones. Iām thinking of trying one called āCupidā that has a soft pink flower, but I havenāt seen it in person yet. I agree itās so nice to have these spring bloomers so early. They look so great in a vase with tulips, muscari, hellebores, darts, etc. It is normal for them to go dormant in the heat of summer, so the yellowing leaves and kind of disappearance at the time is fine. I try to plant things next to them that can kind of grow over into their space. Always looking for suggestions! Does anyone have āCupidā? Does this photo look to you like it also has the more yellow foliage?
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I browsed online today looking for ideas what to plant this year. We donāt eat tons of vegetables (especially DH)! I always have a tomato plant, some spinach, and peas. Peas did terrible last year. Last year tried asparagus from seeds and got two tiny tiny fronds that I doubt return. Iām struggling to regrow a strawberry patch after my thriving one died out.
So in my cart I have some potatoes, lima bean seeds, strawberry plants, asparagus crowns, and strawberry & asparagus fertilizers. Will get tomato plant locally. The limas will be something new for me but probably my favorite vegetable to eat.
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Iāve always read (and seen) that asparagus takes 3 years to establish the roots/plants before they produce.
Anything by seed must be watered nearly daily until germinated and getting established.
If you are a newer or not intense gardener, I think itās best to just start with established plants you buy at the garden center as opposed to seeds. Seeds can take a lot of care and maintenance (watering, thinning out, etc.)
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The earliest ever, I planted some seed at my community garden this past week. Weather will get colder this coming week but shouldnāt freeze and they wonāt have sprouted yet. Plus I knew for at least 5 days or so I could get to the garden to water them daily.
I planted peas, radishes, arugula and a Bibb lettuce. I get the seeds free from the org I garden at so I always figure give them a shot, if they donāt produce Iāll just plant plants when May comes. The past 5 days or so itās been in the 70ās and 80ās (oddly) so Iām hoping that might give them jumpstart.
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Since I survived a 4 day road to Texas and back earlier this week, I bought myself a prize at the fruit tree nursery this morning and brought home a Ge Neri fig tree. Gonna plant it this afternoon!
Hereās the figs on the desert king fig treeā¦
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Yes, not going to try asparagus seeds again. Last year I was too late to find any plants so for a few dollars, thought Iād see what happened 
So, we went to New Orleans for 3.5 days and DH managed to kill a few seedlings from not watering. My fault; I thought Iād watered enough (these were not new seedlings - quite large, actually), but a few got crisped - celery and marjoram are very thirsty plants!
Anyway, two things on tomatoes: If theyāre fairly new, just getting their true leaves, youāll not want them to dry out. But watering too much is also problematic! Maybe water well before you leave and FaceTime with him every 2nd day? Just to see how theyāre doing? I shouldāve done thatā¦
Second - and this goes for all seedlings: They must be hardened off outside, otherwise you can lose them all in the last stretch of all your work.
Put them outside under a patio umbrella or other shade or on a very cloudy day - not in direct sun - for maybe an hour or two the first day, increasing an hour or so each day, moving into full sun judiciously and not for long at first. I take about five days to harden off my plants. You can google for more info from somebody more authoritative than me 
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I have tried most everything at this point and love a few not-so-common things: ground cherries, tomatillos, okra, a purple podded pole bean that is just an amazingly prolific vine, and cucamelons, which I scarf down straight from the trellis. They look like miniature watermelons, they donāt taste like cucumbers - a bit sour - but I really like them. And garlic - maybe not unusual, but I love not having to pay for it at the store.
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I have about six or seven āwildā lettuce growing; I think with all the rain weāve had here in CA, some of the dormant seeds dropped by birds, are starting to gain life. I also have a wild fig tree that sprouted within a yucca; the figs are inedible, but they are impressively large!
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How are everyoneās gardens coming along?
The poppies are still sending up flowers and itās going on 3 weeks now!
My pride and joyā¦the frankincense treeā¦has a BOATLOAD of tiny flowers. Probably 10x the number of flowers from last year.
And the luffa seeds that I tossed in the raised beds in random spots have sprouted! I already have transplanted 2 of them. 2 yr ago, I bought 2 small plants and they entirely took over this massive horseshoe-shaped raised bed. Iām still using the luffas that I harvested from that year. And gave away a TON of seeds to people and still had a ton of seeds left.
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Iām trying real hard to get everything planted from annuals, to hanging pots, to food plants. And all the flower beds cleaned out and weeded from winter. Iāve had two weekends tied up and I work full time so itās all going to take me to near Memorial Day!
I have planted my herbs at home. Flat parsley, two types of basil, spicy oregano, cilantro, dill, sage, andā¦? In my raised bed so far I have 4 tomato plants - lucky to snag my favorite variety last year again, Sunrise Bumblebee. Peas, radish, arugula, pickling cukes. And pepper wise, poblano, banana, jalapeno and chili peppers! I wanted the chili peppers just because I love the way they look growing - lol - if anyone has any tips how to dry them once they produce let me know! I also have lettuce, kale and beets that I need to get in the ground yet, but I need to build/get a little barrier for them against 
.
Finally, Iāve done my zinnia seed sprinkle in many of my beds - my favorite seed annual!
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Actually let me ask hereā¦do you have a fav online gardening āstoreā? Attached to that, Iām looking for an easy to move see through covering for some of my plants that need protection from animals. I donāt want to do chicken wire for a couple of reasons I wonāt get into (complicated).
I was looking at these:
These are great looking but at $25 a pop, itās a no:
https://www.amazon.com/Gardeners-Supply-Company-Chicken-Protection/dp/B0130PE3S6/ref=sr_1_1_sspa
This one is longer and would allow for maybe three plants to be protected:
https://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Long-Cloche-Garden-Protection/dp/B01IFKMQWQ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa
Those are just a couple examples. Anyone use something different? Please share your source!
Www.gardeners.com is my favorite for garden gear and supplies.
Baker Creek Seeds for seeds.
Also Native Seeds/SEARCH for seeds that do well in my area.
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Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, here: https://www.southernexposure.com/
Sow True Seed, here: https://sowtrueseed.com/
Victory Seeds, here: https://victoryseeds.com/
High Mowing Organic Seeds, here: https://www.highmowingseeds.com
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For online supplies I use greenhouse megastore. Great products and good pricing.
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We have had several lovely pickings of asparagus. Today when I went out, no asparagus. A very guilty big black dog was sitting nearby. I had forgotten that our dog loves asparagus.
I bought 3 of the first cloches you linked above (on sale last fall). They totally work and have an attractive shape, but they barely make a dent in what I need to cover and I canāt afford 1000 of them LOL. So I just put my most prized items underneath when they are very young/tender, then move them to something else newly planted. My bunnies seem to like the tenderest shoots and then leave things alone. If you find something at a better price or more useful, please circle back and tell us!
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