The frogs are a much more reliable indicator. I know that their gleeful chorus is for other reasons entirely, but it seems as if they're personally welcoming all the gardeners back for the start of another gardening season. The ground may still be too wet to dig, but there's still a lot to do - especially if you want a garden rather than a weed lot.
One of the great things about being a gardener on the "Wet Coast" is that it's often green all year round. This is also one of the terrible things about being a gardener here. While we gardeners have been driven inside by broadsides of slashing wind and rain, the weeds have been blithely multiplying.
So one of the first things gardeners have to do every spring is clear the beds of weeds. Remember the classic definition of a weed - a plant in the wrong place. One of the worst offenders where I live is grass. It doesn't seem to like living and spreading in my lawn very much, but it loves to colonize my borders and beds! Tree seeds are also overly eager to grow where I don't want them to be. Filberts, firs, and maples seem to be wonderfully adept at planting themselves. And then there's the usual range of suspects, such as chickweed and dandelions that would carpet everything if I let them. As soon as I can be out there without losing fingers to frostbite, it's time to weed.
While I weed, I also manicure. If, like me, you let many of your perennials stand over the winter, there's a lot of cleanup to be done. Now is the best time to cut the dead flower heads off Hydrangeas, because now you can see their swollen buds and not run the risk of cutting off your flowers for this season. Perennials such as Mums are best cut back now, too, now that the new growth has started at the base. Sedum and Achillea will appreciate having their old, dead stalks cut off. And it's time to take out the dead, removing and disposing of any annuals that were left in the ground over the winter.
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