Spring has Sprung

With the unusually warm March we've all been experiencing this year, I am guessing I am not the only one with spring fever. Spring has sprung and I am anxious to get the garden going.

In Colorado, March is usually our snowiest month, but this year we've seen highs in the 70s and nights well above freezing, so of course I couldn't resist getting started on the yard and garden.  There's been so many things to do; cleaning out the dead annuals, pruning back the dead branches from the raspberry bush and grape vine, putting down mulch, the list goes on. Though that's just cleaning; the best part of March is I can finally start putting things in the ground, instead of just looking at sad brown dirt.

I know things are different for every climate zone, and Colorado is difficult in terms of what we can put in the ground in March, but there's still some things that will survive our temperature fluctuations.

My first and favorite addition to my spring garden is the Pansy.
They are such hardy flowers that they can easily survive the freezing temperatures of March, and if you can find a place for them that they won't get harsh summer sun, these survivors will probably make it all through the summer and give you beautiful blooms through the fall.  I always like to get them going in March, because while they do struggle a little bit when the snows come, they get a great root system and just explode in April and May. And, on nice days like today, they just add such great color to my still barren ground.

The next thing I like to get going in March is the early spring vegetable seeds.  Most of the gardening in our yard is done in container pots, because A. we have terrible soil and B. we have dogs that just can't leave things alone.  I like to devote two entire pots to spinach in the spring (we love spinach and the earwigs seem to leave it alone), and the middle of March is the perfect time to start planting things like spinach, lettuce, kale, broccoli, etc in Colorado.  I try to use my container pots on a rotating system, so that come May when the spinach is done, I can plant my summer vegetables/herbs in the same pot.  When I put my spinach seeds in the ground this week I also planted basil and dill seeds indoors that I will put outside when my spinach is done. 

The other thing we always seem to put in the ground this time of year is grass seed. Now we don't have the world's best success with grass on our lawn, though not from lack of trying. I think the three dogs may have something to do with it, and that we are the only people on the block without an irrigation system, and then there was the incident where we used RoundUp instead of weed-only killer on the lawn a couple of years ago, but we are trying to get a little bit of grass to grow..... 

So though there's only just a few pansies and crocuses right now, I can feel the seeds stirring, the lilacs  budding and the world coming to life.  Even if it is just a packet of seeds or a 6-pack of pansies, I hope you can get outside this month and bring a little bit of Spring into your day.