March is for Celebrating Light

Celebrate Light

March is truly a time to celebrate light, renewal and growth.

In less than 2 weeks we will be experiencing daylight saving time. For many of us, springing ahead means that it will be lighter outside after work! And, in less than 3 weeks we will be approaching the vernal or spring equinox. This day marks the halfway point between the winter and summer solstice. The days are getting longer, friends, and every year it feels like my soul has come alive as I emerge from the depths of a cold, dark winter.

Plus, no matter where you live, March is the time to start thinking about gardening again!

It is prime time to start many of your favorite hardy annual cut flower seeds:

• Snapdragon - I
• Feverfew - I
• Sweet William - I
• Rudbeckia - I
• Stock - I
• Scabiosa - I
• Bupleurum - O
• Larkspur - O
• Sweet Pea - O 

I = Indoors

O = Directly into the garden, in covered trays outside, or using winter sowing techniques

In other spring news, we’ve decided to grow anemone and ranunculus one last time. We grew these picky beauties for the first time in 2019 and it was a smashing success. 2020, 2021 and 2022 were total busts. We did not have the just-right temperatures to support their high maintenance needs. These girls want a long stretch of 40 degree nights and SUNNY 60 degree days, basically perfect spring weather.

This is a tall order for anyone who has ever experienced an upper Midwest “spring”. 50 degrees and cloudy one day, snowing and 18 degrees the next, followed by a gorgeous 60 degree day where the snow vanishes, sunny and swinging into the upper 70s and finally dipping down again to 25 degrees. It’s a roller coaster and anemone and ranunculus are just not into our inconsistent weather patterns. And yet, we still keep trying to make it work. If it doesn’t work out this year we’re breaking up, for good. Please, someone hold Carly to this.

Currently the anemone and ranunculus are enjoying their pre-spouting strage  in our unfinished basement, which is anywhere between 55-65 degrees. Needless to say, they are living their best lives.

Once we have a nice stretch of nighttime temperatures that are in the upper 30s to lower 40s we’ll transplant our pre-sprouted anemone and ranunculus outside. This is typically sometime in mid-March. However, we aren’t out of the woods yet and have to keep them covered when nights fall below 30 degrees.

Last year, covering the anemone and ranunculus felt like a regular nightly chore. That is until summer decided to show up with a nice stretch of temps in the high 80’s around Memorial Day weekend. And that was the end of our anemone and ranunculus.

Here in Wisconsin March is when we start to see robins, the temperatures become milder and the snow begins to melt away, spring bulbs are starting to emerge from the soil, and people are getting all kinds of spring fever. After all, we have been cooped up for the last 4 months!