TOURING
Local gardens. To create a great garden, you need inspiration. And you'll find that in spades among the plethora of garden tours scheduled for this spring; check out our long list of Spring tours. To keep track of the ideas you love, take along a camera and notebook.

PLANTING
Easy-care perennials. For drought tolerance, plant California fuchsia, lavender, penstemons, and salvias, including S. leucantha and S. spathacea. Most do best with regular water until established (in a year or two).

Summer veggies. Inland gardeners (Sunset climate zones 18–21) can plant beans, corn, cucumber, eggplant, melons, peppers, and squash now. In the high desert (zone 11), wait a few more weeks because frost is still a possibility. Coastal gardeners (zones 22–24) should wait as well; weather is still too cool. For those with adventurous tastes, check out the Thai Garden seed collection from Edible Gardens ($30; it contains seeds for lemon grass, 'Kikuza' squash, Thai green eggplant, Thai long beans, Thai orange peppers, and more, plus recipes for using the crops.

Tomatoes. If you have already grown 'Brandywine', 'Green Zebra', and 'Pineapple' and seek new taste thrills, drop by Quail Botanical Gardens on March 29–30 during Tomatomania, touted as the world's largest tomato-seedling sale. There you can pick up plants of 'Big Bite', 'Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red', 'Pierce's Pride', or one of the other 150 or so varieties on hand. The Herb Festival is going on at the same time at the gardens ($10, plus $1 parking, 230 Quail Gardens Dr., Encinitas; Quail Botanical Gardens or 760/436-3036; for Tomatomania events at other locations, visit Tomatomania). Related story: Tomato growing tips from the masters

White flowers. Hot colors are often associated with summer. But when the heat actually kicks in, flowers in shades of white feel like a better choice. They look cool during the day and light up the garden after dark when you're dining alfresco. 'Profusion White' zinnia and the classic 'Star White' zinnia are great choices, providing lots of bloom with minimum care. Or fill pots and beds with white begonia, cosmos, dianthus, impatiens, nicotiana, Shasta daisies, or strawflower.

MAINTENANCE
Fertilize ornamentals. Feed groundcovers, perennials, shrubs, trees, turf grasses, and other permanent ornamentals not fed last month; use a slow-release organic fertilizer such as alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal, or well-aged manure. Though they're pricey, consider worm castings as fertilizer. Related story: Fertilizing and nutrients

Stop weeds. The best way to keep weeds under control is to prevent their seeds from germinating in the first place. You can do that by covering your soil with mulch to block out light. The San Diego area's Walter Anderson Nursery recommends putting down a few layers of old newspaper on bare ground before you apply mulch. The newspaper helps prevent spring weeds from sprouting, then disintegrates. Related story: Managing weeds

GARDEN BUZZ
What's happening in gardens and what's not

In
• Single plant containers
• Overstuffed containers
• Soothing spring greens
• Brassy orange with hot pink
• Solar lighting

Out
• Tiki torches
• Meditation spaces
• Wedding-cake gazebos
• Smart controllers
• Wasteful irrigation

Fresh Dirt: Get the latest tips and planting ideas on our garden blog »