Flower seller in Lucien Labaudt's 1936 mural in the Beach Chalet.

A tulip's life is short enough, particularly in the far westerly reaches of our city/county. We seem to remember that in past years, the tulips at the Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden (in the shadow of the windmill in Golden Gate Park) didn't quite until the official beginning of spring. This year, though, the GG Park folks say that "tulips are expected to be in fine glory from March 15 through April 15."

Tulip mania, however, never lasts as long as you want it to. The scholars at Wikipedia tell us that "The term tulip mania (alternatively tulipomania) is used metaphorically to refer to any large economic bubble." Is Google trying to tell us something?