Portland is a gardener's mecca. From the world-famous International Rose Garden, the Peninsula Park Rose Garden, and Portland's Japanese Garden to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron garden, visitors throng year-round. But the excitement for many lies in the city's myriad local neighborhoods, planted by homeowners for more than a century, unheralded by outsiders but revered by locals. Mid-February begins a cornucopia of color bookmarked by daffodils that lasts until the end of March--none of Portland's features noted above (roses, Japanese flora, and rhodies, let alone azaleas) are yet obvious. Thus a book which celebrates the first six weeks of spring in two North Portland neighborhoods--typical of the entire city--is unusually noteworthy.