FIRE ADVISORY starting off the week with strong dry winds from the north and frost on Tuesday.  Cherry bark oak trees are leafing out as are some water oaks.  Live oak trees haven’t dropped any leaves yet.  Soil moisture is good other than tilled beds, which are dry.  After several months of road construction, finishing touches to the roadside slope, drainage, and debris removal are in full swing.  The soil, mostly clay on the finished slopes, is bone dry and cracked on the surface, but broken up enough to support hydro seeding.  It’s late in the season here, but I still wanted to try to establish a poppy flower area alongside the roadway similar to what existed prior to the road construction.   Flower beds needed irrigation this week. Spring has sprung!  Many ornamental plants are waking up and sprouting fresh green leaves and flower buds.  Repeating daffodils are blooming.  Still too early to plant merliton  outside, since we can still get a hard freeze for a couple more weeks.  Predictions for rain next week are nonexistent and temperatures will be in the mid 
80° F.