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With a hopeful eye on the weather

© Lorraine Flanigan

I want to be gardening. Now! It's March, a month that seems to me to be a battleground between Spring and Winter. The grey skies drizzle rain over the garden one day and the next, flail ice pellets at the warmed buds of unsuspecting shrubs and trees. Monitoring the battle are gardeners like me, so weary of winter pastimes that not even our favourite seed catalogues hold our interest, let alone light our passion for gardening. Day after March day, we monitor the battle, reporting back from the field when birds sing out from tree to tree, despairing anew when snow flurries are spotted on the slate-coloured horizon.

Getting through March is a test of a gardener's mettle. We can start seed, think about new garden projects and read gardening magazines. But all of these activities seem somehow hollow - deep down in our horticultural hearts, we know we're just biding our time. What we really want is to be out in the garden cleaning up the winter debris and breathing that particularly earthy air of spring, so complex with the smells of mud, laundry hung out to dry and unfurling leaves. And so it goes throughout the month, the tug of war between reality and hope that results in a series of desultory gardening tasks performed with one eye on the weather.

Well, if we're going to fixate on the weather, let's do it up right! Here's a list of links to weather forecasts and predictions, from Environment Canada to the Farmer's Almanac. I hope it helps you get through the Ides of March!

Environment Canada http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/saisons/in... Just issued March 1, 2002, Environment Canada predicts a very normal March, April and May as far as temperatures go, and normal to above average precipitation depending on where in the province you garden. Using the Canadian Climate Normals charts on the website, you can determine normal monthly temperatures and precipitation rates in your town or city --> http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/climate/clim... Toronto, daily mean temperatures have been 1ºC in March, 7.5ºC in April and 13.8º in May.

Farmer's Almanac http://www.farmersalmanac.com Along with regional forecasts, the Farmer's Almanac provides a monthly Farm and Garden Bulletin. Here's the one for March, 2002 which highlight good days for planting (as if!)--> http://www.farmersalmanac.com/gardening/... The regional forecast for Ontario calls for a pretty stormy March --> http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/ca...

Weather.com Although geared to the US, Weather.com does provide gardening forecasts and seasonal tips contributed by the National Gardening Bureau. Toronto is grouped into their mid-Atlantic forecasts at --> http://www.weather.com/outlook/homeandga...