San Francisco sidewalks: steep, lush, vivid, wacky

When the fog lifts from gray San Francisco and Indian summer sun floods the up-and-down streets, the plants and buildings suddenly show their true colors in all their vividness. Some plants are painted on, others are trimmed into submission, while others grow into their own forms, whether creating sidewalk tunnels or two-dimensional trees. Here’s a little photo walk around San Francisco’s Mission and Noe Valley neighborhood back when the sun was shining.

Any San Francisco botanical hot spots that we missed? We’ll probably be back in California at the end of the year, so please share your plant-spotting tips.