I typically start transplanting tomatoes & peppers the third week in March, but I'm holding off until the end of next week this year. I hate scrambling to cover the garden when a late freeze is predicted. We had such a cold winter. Things are greening up and blooming at a slower pace. Even the azaleas are just now starting to bloom.

My seeds are just starting to come up in the grow-op. It's funny - our temps have been about the same as yours, but now they are going back down into the minus digits!! It is still so much nicer than the snow. The rain cleaned much of the guck off of everything, and many of the bulbs and perrenials are showing themselves. Just lovely.

And yes, I am often the fool who rushes out to plant as soon as I can!!

Nancy.

We've had tomatoes in the garden center for a couple weeks now. It's too early. But corporate and the growers have made deals to get these things out faster. People have been buying them. I keep warning them to cover and that we don't refund for frost damage. Still they buy. My second set of seeds still haven't germinated. My first set was neglected and died on me last week. It got down to 40 one night and I left them outside. Oops. I think we're going to have a late frost in a couple weeks. We'll have lots of people rebuying annuals and other things.

Not with tomatoes, but I did optimistically direct sow alyssum. Just when the little seedlings are looking so good---bam. It's going down to anywhere from 24 to 29 on Friday. I'm saying a little prayer for 29. LOL. They are planted right next to my concrete path, so I'm hoping the heat stored in that will buy them a few degrees of warmth.

Oh well...my thought from the beginning was that it only cost 25 cents for the packet of seeds and that I can replant. It was a calculated risk that they would make it through, and I'd have a jump on them.

How much do I need to worry about my perennials that are showing lots of growth?

Thanks,

Lisa

Lisa I never worry about perennials and late freezes/frosts. They will get tip burned but will come back and grow and bloom this year.

Warm season things like peppers and tomatoes and cukes should not be planted out until after your last frost date.

I learned my lesson one year and lost my entire crop of tomatoes.....don't do that anymore!

Here I haven't even started my peppers or tomatoes and I always direct sow the cukes.

Yeah, some folks in my area were too eager to do major yard clean up and that's not a good idea. At least remove some old branches but no hard pruning until we are past this last dip in temperatures. Mulching, leaves and branches protect plants from the temperature fluctuation. I've lost many lavenders before when I didn't heed this advise.

I'm usually that foolish person...planting too early (because every unscorching day before summer cranks is good) scrambling to cover and eventually replanting because the cold was too hard on the tomatoes. So...this year, I've waited. And I'm glad, since we had snow last weekend. I plopped some 'maters in the ground earlier this week because the forecasts are (finally) saying the lows won't drop below middle forties for the foreseeable future. We are past our 'average' freeze date, so I think I'm secure. Still holding off on some seeds and peppers and watching the weather every night.

Happy, I've decided to do the same. Ten day forecast looks promising and I have plenty of extra tomatoes in the cold frame. I won't plant them all just yet, but at least a handful will go in the ground this weekend.