If you aren't sure what holiday is coming up, you can check the color of M&Ms being sold at the big-box stores.
Red, pink and white are currently in stock. Red and green have come and gone. Easter candy will be pastel.

Good thing, because some of us enjoy buying post-holiday candy in outdated colors for 50-75 percent off.

When my family was in Vegas last summer, I spent an inordinate amount of time at the M&Ms store while waiting in line for the ladies' room. One giant wall at the colossal candy store was lined with dispensaries of every M&M color you can imagine.
I'm working on some suggestions to help the Mars Company more fully capitalize on the holidays, and to increase my opportunities for post-holiday candy discounts.

• Groundhog Day: gray M&Ms
• Veterans Day: camouflage candy
• Chinese New Year: red
• Boxing Day: black and blue
• May 16: "Wear Purple for Peace Day." (Although I prefer to reserve purple for my birthday).
• Super Bowl: Both teams are red, white and blue.
(Thank you, Facebook friends, for sharing your colorful ideas).

The gift of anticipation
A few years ago I adopted the habit of planting bulbs in pots.
I learn most things the hard way and for years I lamented when gophers feasted upon my hidden treasure.
With bulbs safely stashed in pots, I can move the containers along my walkway when they bloom. Last year the hyacinth made my front porch smell like it had been misted in body spray.

I love the anticipation that bulbs provide -- buying, chilling, planting, waiting, watching, hoping ...
This fall and winter I again planted a few bulbs each week, mostly in black plastic containers.
This was handy, because each time someone was nice to me, I could give them a gift.

Sometimes people don't understand when they are handed what looks like a black container filled with dirt.
My instructions have been: "Put this in a place that will receive rain, and forget about it."
Recently, people have reported that the bulbs are just beginning to peek above the soil. I can tell by the sound of their voices that this makes them happy, which of course makes me happy.

Inspired, and eager to arm myself with gifts for the future, I bought the bag of 100 anemones as soon as I saw them in the store.
I'm running low on black plastic planting containers, so I'll welcome any that arrive mysteriously by the side of my house. Who knows, your gift might portend a gift in return.
Other good spring-planted bulbs: liatris, dahlia, ranunculus and gladiolas.
Anemones, by the way, are a strange-looking corm, which can be hard as a rock. Some garden websites suggest soaking the corms for 24 hours in cold water, and then looking for a growth bud.
If in doubt, you can plant horizontally.
Ranunculus look like a claw, and should be planted with the "fingers" pointed downward.

Weeds are waking up
This week I talked to Farm Adviser Joe Connell about the upcoming almond bloom. As the buds swell on trees, the weeds wake up as well.
Weeds, being greedy by nature, start early and go to seed before you have a chance to find your garden clogs.
With warmer days looming, it's a good time to get out there and tear things up.
A reader from Capay named Sherri wrote recently hoping I knew of a weed identification website.
I love being able to fulfill other people's wishes:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/weeds_intro.html.

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