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Dithering in the Early Spring Garden

© Carol Wallace

So I broke that promse to myslef never to plant impatiens. And of course, the next morning they were all dead. Another late, cold surprise from Ma Nature.

OK - I know that an average last first date means what it says. That sometimes the last frost may come earlier than that date, and sometimes it can come later. So I have learned to trust both my instinct and the general demeanor of each particular spring. When things seem steady, with few surprises, and the warming trend seems quite definite, I decide that the time has come. Most of the time I've been right, with a few fairly spectacular wrong guesses. Like the years we had 14 inches of snow dumped on us in the middle of April. Lots of soggy, muddy daffodils that year!

But wait too long and you're not doing the plants any favors. The emerging plants may be smothering, trying to emerge beneath that blanket of mulch and matted leaves that have accumulated over the winter. There have been years when I discovered albino crocuses beneath the leaves, valiantly carrying out their mission despite a lack of light and air. I apologized to them almost as sadly as I did the baby rabbits.

The shrubs and trees would much rather have their limbs lopped while they are still asleep than when they are coming awake. Such a rude start to their season in the sun!

And of course, the gardener would rather be gardening than sitting with nose pressed against the windowpanes (which she never enjoys cleaning off!)

So, I will content myself with those few things that I can safely do. I can scrape the bark of those dogwoods that I suspect are dead to see if I can see any green - a sign of life. And I can make a shopping list. But I will not go shopping yet lest any new acquisitions go the way of last year's impatiens. One must NOT be impatient in early spring.

I can pull up or cut back the ornamental grasses and any perennials that I left standing last fall so that the birds could feast on the seed heads. By now they are seedless, brown and unsightly.

If the ground is soft enough- and that's iffy - I can pull weeds. This is a great time to find them, before wanted plants leaf out and offer them places to hide. But if the ground is too cold and stiff, they will only break off instead of coming out at the roots - so I may only be able to do the shallow rooted ones just yet. Nevertheless, it's gardening of a sort, and I come back indoors with dirty fingernails - a sure sign that the season is on its way in.