Environment : Notes about your surroundings.

SUBDUED DISPLAY: A dry February and March have sabotaged the work of a rainy fall and tempered early hopes for a strong spring wildflower display, says Mike Evans of Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano. Still, there are places to go in the county to see some spring color.

Evans recommends Caspers Wilderness Park, northeast of San Juan Capistrano off Ortega Highway, for displays of buttercups and lupine in the grasslands. Shooting stars, though nearly finished blooming, can still be found, as can fuschia-flowering gooseberries. Ceanothus is blooming higher on the slopes.

Seeds are starting to form on the native bunchgrasses, such as purple needlegrass, which makes for a colorful display.