The ground is thawing in spots…Little dots of green here and there. The returning robins looking things over for food or scraps to use for building nests. Buds are bubbling out on a few tree limbs. 

Now is the time to plan new additions and changes for this year’s garden…keep snow and ice off the birdfeeders and fill them regularly…order flower and vegetable plant seedlings and seeds…Identify all the birds that visit your yard…prune summer-blooming trees and shrubs after the worst of winter has passed… treat your birds to suet…transplant your house plants…make and put up bluebird houses… This is the time that I PLAN to plant the Dahlias. Plant them when you would the tomatoes. The soil needs to be between 60 and 65 degrees. Overwatering tubers is the number one cause of death. Test your soil to find out what you need to add. Avoid fertilized potting soil. Bagged potting mixes can fry a tuber and turn it into mush. Don’t add fertilizer until after plants have started growing. 

Crocus come into bloom around mid-March, the hellebores and Virginia Bluebells, then daffodils. Here is a trick I learned last year…when the daffodils are about 2-3 inches tall, plant some marigold seeds around them. By the time the daf leaves are dying back, the marigolds will be blooming…

I start some seeds indoors about March 1, using a weekly calendar to schedule when to sow seeds so that all the plants are ready to harden off (become acclimated to outdoor conditions), by May 10.

Before I start a new bed, I till it 10-12 inches deep. Then I till in peat moss and compost. I put plants in and put about 2-3 inches of mulch around each one. I make my mulch with one part aged woodchips, one part peat moss, and one part dried leaves and grass. On top of that, I add about one inch of cocoa bean hulls, water by a drip-irrigation system and proper applications of fertilizer to keep the beds healthy and blooming all season long.

Good luck getting ready for SPRING!