By Jennifer Fairfield
Since spring doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to get here, we’ll have to settle for doing things to get ready for when it finally does show up.
Indoors:
If you haven’t finished planning your garden for the upcoming season, don’t wait any longer. Having a plan will help you know what plants to buy seeds for. If you wait to get your seeds until it warms up, you may not get the varieties you want.
You don’t need to stick to your plan precisely – I always leave room for something I find that I just can’t live without, and I’m often moving things around when it comes to actual planting time.
If you are planning for a flower garden this year – whether adding to an existing one or starting a new one – consider native plants to help our native bees and butterflies.
Speaking of seeds, March is the time to start many of them indoors, if you are growing your own plants from seed. Early in the month, I get my parsley started. I typically start broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, head lettuces, and kale mid-month, along with all of the herbs, except basil, which I start around the end of the month.
Seeds are in at The Garden Mill, and on sale (along with seed starting supplies) throughout the month of March, so be sure to come in and get yours early.
Around the end of the month or the first part of April, tomatoes and peppers should be started so that they will be mature enough to be planted by Memorial Day, which is always my target date for getting those in the garden. Waiting until the end of May to put these warm-weather lovers in the garden almost guarantees that there is no danger of frost, which these plants really can’t handle.
For some details on starting tomatoes, Renee’s Garden offers some good tips on their website.
If you are starting flowers from seed, early to mid-March is the time to start zinnia, and mid to late March is the time to get a number of others going, including amaranth, catmint, cleome, gaillardia, nigella, stock and thunbergia. Echinacea should be started by the end of the month.
Begin fertilizing indoor plants that you were letting rest over the winter. Also, now is a great time to re-pot any of your indoor plants that need it – before you get so involved with everything that needs to be done outdoors that you can’t get to them.
If some of your plants are getting really big, split them into a few smaller ones so that you don’t have one huge plant that you can’t move. If you don’t have room for all those little ones, give them away as gifts.
If you stored tender bulbs over the winter, check them now and discard any that are soft, damaged or diseased.
If you potted bulbs for forcing last fall, check their progress. When your bulbs get a few inches of growth, it’s time to move them into a cool (60 degrees) sunny spot, but not in direct sunlight. Once they have flowered, move them into a warmer spot, but keep them out of direct sunlight to help the blooms last longer. For even longer lasting blooms, provide cooler nighttime temperatures.
