Well, March is going to be an easy month since March 1st falls on Sunday and we get to start out the new month with the first week beginning on the first day of the month. That means I don't have to sit here and figure out whether to call a split month February or March for example.....it is March all the way!

It feels like Spring is about 2/3s of the way here, with lots of lovely days that are fairly warm and some decently warm nights, and yet there's still a freezing night and frost once or twice a week at our place. I am sure the same is true for the rest of you. Still, you really can feel the change in the weather pattern, including more wind or recent days. The warm days will warm up our soil temperatures nicely, but then a couple of chilly nights will cool them down again, so don't get overly excited about warm soil one day and decide to plant warm-season plants too early. Wait for the soil temperatures to stabilize and stay consistently warm for at least 5 days before your start planting warm-season crops, whether that happens sometime this month for you or perhaps not until early April. I like to check my own soil temperatures at planting depth with a soil thermometer, but if you don't do that yourself, you can just look at the soil temperature maps on the OK Mesonet website to see what the maps show. Here's an example of one of those maps:

Three Day Average Soil Temperature 4" Below Bare Soil

Different plants need different soil temperatures in order to grow well. Remember that if you plant into soil that is too cool for a given type of plant, it will just sit and sulk and refuse to grow until the soil warms up.

March is a good month to be finishing up planting cool-season veggies, flowers and seeds, as the weather tends to turn markedly warmer in April (which is a good thing). That is one reason we always are having to push our cool-season plants a little bit---just to get them planted and growing well so that they can produce their crop before the weather gets too hot. For some people in the warmer parts of the state, you may be able to plant warm-season crops and seeds near the end of March, depending on soil temperatures, air temperatures and the 10-day forecast.

In the meantime, there's lots of other garden chores in addition to planting. March usually is the month that gardening becomes a bit more fun as plants arrive in nurseries and garden centers. You can plant annual spring color plants now, like larkspur, poppies, snapdragons, petunias (some cold-hardiness but not an excessive amount either, so don't plant too early) and stock now if you see any of those in stores or if you started your own from seed. You can plant root veggies like potatoes, onions, radishes, beets, turnips, rutabagas and carrots this month (or horseradish or rhubarb) and also leafy veggies like spinach, lettuce and kale in March, but how early or late these can go in the ground depends on how far north or south you are in the state. You can sow seeds of cool-season herbs, and don't forget to plant your brassicas if you're growing them this year.

If you use a fruit tree spray program for your fruit trees, remember that each individual spraying must be timed very precisely, and the OSU fact sheets about growing fruit trees in the home orchard have photos and calendars to help ensure you spray at the correct times.

Remember to stay on top of the weeding chore in your veggie garden. Cool-season weeds grow quickly on warm spring days and the garden can get away from you if you aren't paying attention. Adding new mulch to the surface can help if last year's mulch has thinned out enough that you are seeing lots of weeds sprouting.

Rain is in the forecast for several days. I'll link the 7-day Qualitative Precipitation Forecast below. Please note that it updates multiple times daily, so expect to see the numbers change. Still, it can give you some idea of what to expect.

Qualitative Precipitation Forecast

Have a great week everybody and enjoy the lovely Sunday weather.

Dawn

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