Is it to early to plant garlic in So Cal.

No, this is a great time to plant garlic. 'Transylvanian' gave me some great results over the last couple of years - big, fragrant cloves, stores well. 'Seeds of Change' has a number of varieties, IIRC. Garlic from your local farmer's market is also a good source, and cheaper, plus you get to sample it before you plant.

I found that if I pop saved or market-bought bulbs into the vegetable crisper for 4 weeks or so, they will bulb up more reliably than those not chilled. They need a dormancy period and if they don't get it, they don't produce a head with cloves.