Can you feel it coming?
Spring is around the corner! March 1st doesn’t always feel that way here in Wisconsin, but this winter has been unbelievably warm. Unsettlingly warm. The kind of warm that heightens one’s constantly-simmering climate anxiety. I read in the Clean Lakes Alliance Lake-O-Gram today that Madison’s two big lakes were only frozen for 44 days this year, from January 15 to February 28. That’s the shortest on record for Lake Monona and the second-shortest for Lake Mendota. Like I said, unsettling.
In fact, I spotted the tips of daffodils poking out of the ground last week, a full month earlier than usual.
But March is here and that means spring is officially around the corner. So I thought I’d write a little about what I’m doing in early March this year.
In addition to all the seeds I’m starting, I’m planning to order some native plants from a few local sources here:
The UW-Madison Arboretum is holding their native plant sale through March 31
Dane County’s Plant Dane Native Plant Program is holding their annual native plant sale through March 19
On one of the warm days we’ve had recently, I did a much-needed pruning of the red-twig dogwood and it’s looking fresh and sprightly and much less gangly. I can hardly wait for it to burst into bloom in a couple of months. I also pulled some weeds (unheard of activity in February!) that were starting to pop up here and there.
Winter sowing party
Earlier this week, on a 68-degree day, I stood in my screen porch without a coat on and did a batch of winter sowing. I focused mainly on native perennials that require cold stratification in order to germinate. I’ve heard that winter sowing these types of seeds can be effective, and if so, eliminates the need to take up space in the refrigerator for 10-60 days. Although we’ve had these warm sunny days, I’m fairly confident that we’ll still have enough cold days and plenty of cold nights to stratify the seeds. Fingers crossed.
I’ve updated my spreadsheet with the key dates for sowing each type of seed I’ve ordered and plan to try this year in the hopes of keeping myself from getting overwhelmed. I’m growing an embarrassing number of plants I’ve never started from seed this year so I’m prepared for failure and lots of opportunities to learn from my inevitable mistakes.
Now, I’m preparing for indoor seed starting. Given their optimal timelines, (and our average last frost date of May 10) I would ideally start many of them next week, but I’m going on vacation so they’ll have to wait until mid-March. Given that most have to be kept continually moist, I doubt it would be effective to try and start them and then leave for 10 days. So, I plan to hit the ground running when I return. I’m rigging up my shop lights in the basement and have arranged all my soil-blocking and seed starting tools and materials. I’ll post a picture of the setup when it’s all up and running.
It’s impossible not to be optimistic when you garden. You have to believe in the power and resilience of plants and your ability to provide them the nurturing they need to grow and survive.
