April is National Gardening Month. No wonder–Forsythia, redbuds, Bradford pears, daffodils, and tulips are blooming everywhere you look.\u00a0 Right now my own yard is a riot of color\u2014the lush rose pink of the redbud, the sunny yellow of the forsythia and daffodils, the little patches of rich blue muscari and light blue starflowers, and the yellow dandelions and purple violets dotting my backyard (on purpose).<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve already planted sugar snap peas alongside the kale and spinach that wintered over and I\u2019m eagerly watching for the new shoots to come up.\u00a0 It seems like Spring took its time getting here\u2014but it\u2019s here.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean, however, that I\u2019m not on guard against one of Mother Nature\u2019s surprises\u2014like the one we got last year the end of April.\u00a0 That\u2019s the one that nipped all the flower buds on my pretty little hardy orchids.<\/p>\n
They say our last \u201caverage\u201d frost date is April 15th<\/sup>.\u00a0 The key word is \u201caverage.\u201d\u00a0 That means we have had last frosts before that date and AFTER that date.\u00a0 We\u2019ve had killing frosts here as late as May 10th<\/sup>!\u00a0 I\u2019ve gotten burnt (well, actually, FROZEN) one too many times by planting too early.\u00a0 I will not commit tender flowers and veggies to the ground before the first week in May.\u00a0 If you like wrestling with row covers or throwing sheets and blankets over plants in your yard, go for it.\u00a0 I\u2019m sticking with the lower stress road.<\/p>\n One thing that I am doing now is one last check for winter damage.\u00a0 This past winter was unusually cold back in January and a number of my plants that have never shown winter damage are showing it this year.\u00a0 My rosemary and lavender are toast\u2014again\u2014but that wasn\u2019t a surprise.\u00a0 What was a surprise was that I lost my sage and oregano\u2014which have been in the ground for over ten years.\u00a0 The lemon balm which was trying to take over my side yard is only coming up in a couple of patches\u2014instead of a couple dozen patches.<\/p>\n