Most hardy vegetables can be planted directly in garden
In the Sky
In gardens you may note amid the dearth
The crocus breaking earth;
And near the snowdrop’s tender white and green,
The violet in its screen.
- Henry Timrod
Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 10.
Before dawn, all the constellations that ride the Milky Way into summer lie in the east. To the far north, Cassiopeia zigzags towards Cepheus, the houselike constellation just east of the North Star. Following the Milky Way to the south, Cygnus, the Northern Cross, shines overhead. Below Cygnus, is Aquila, with its bright star Altair. Below that, summer’s Sagittarius. Venus, the brightest Morning Star, accompanies the constellations with Aquarius. The Sun reaches a declination of five degrees this week. That is 80 percent of the way to spring.
Phases of the Opossum Mating Moon And the Termite Migration Moon
March 3: The Opossum Mating Moon enters its final quarter.
March 10: The Termite Migration Moon is new.
March 17: The moon enters its second quarter.
March 25: The moon is full.
Weather Trends
March’s second quarter brings one more major pivot in the year’s weather patterns. The rate of spring’s advance quickens, and odds for milder weather increase with every sunrise. Chances of an afternoon above 50 degrees rise to 40 percent per day by the end of the week. The third cold wave of the month arrives on the 9th or 10th, but it is typically one of the mildest so far in the year. On March 13, the chances for highs above 50 climb to 45 percent, and they remain near that level until March 22, when they rise even higher. Frost strikes the early garden 60 percent of all the nights, however, and there is still a five to 10 percent chance each day this week for a high only in the 20s. Odds for rain or snow are about one in three most days of the period; the 10th is the wettest day with a 50 percent chance of precipitation.
The Natural Calendar
Maple syrup season, Snowdrop and Aconite season, and Pussy Willow season continue. Daffodil budding season and Crocus blooming season commence. Migration season reaches its apex for Canadian geese. Walleye, Sauger, Saugeye, Muskie, Bass and Crappie feeding seasons get underway. Earthworm mating season starts in the warming rains. Junco season usually ends at bird feeders as those birds fly north for breeding.
Horseradish leaves are typically an inch long today, their length announcing the appearance of Virginia bluebell sprouts on the hillsides and the blossoming of the earliest jonquils in the garden.
Countdown to Spring
Just a few days to the beginning of the morning robin chorus before sunrise.
One week to daffodil season and silver maple blooming season and the first golden goldfinches.
Two weeks to tulip season and the first wave of blooming woodland wildflowers and the first butterflies
Three weeks until golden forsythia blooms and skunk cabbage sends out its first leaves and the lawn is long enough to cut
Four weeks until American toads sing their mating songs in the dark and corn planting time begins
Five weeks until the Great Dandelion and Violet Bloom and the peak of wildflower season begin
Six weeks until all the fruit trees flower
Seven weeks to the first rhubarb pie
Eight weeks to the great warbler migration through the Lower Midwest
Nine weeks to the first cricket song of late spring
Ten weeks to the first orange daylilies blossom
In the Field and Garden
This is the earliest date for planting most hardy vegetables directly in the garden. Farmers also put in oats, spring wheat, and ryegrass for quick vegetative cover. Only 11 weeks remain before the most delicate flowers and vegetables can be planted outside, four weeks until most hardy varieties can be set out. Fertilizer spread on lawn and field will have a month to dissolve in the ground before April or May planting.
Most bedding plants should be started in their flats. Only nine to 10 weeks remain before the most delicate flowers and vegetables can be planted outside. Four weeks until most hardy plants can be set out.
Remove old rhubarb and asparagus stalks, cleaning out around the beds, digging in well-rotted manure. Uncover and fertilize strawberries. Cut off tips of young black raspberry branches, and remove old canes.
The S.A.D. Stress Index
Cloud cover and inclement weather continue to keep index readings relatively high during March. The day keeps lengthening, however, and improved meteorological conditions toward the end of the month push the numbers down into the middle 40s after equinox.
Key for Interpreting the S.A.D. Index:
Clouds: Refers to likely cloud cover.
Weather: Likely weather Day: The length of the day Totals: Combined numbers to provide the stress scale
Totals of:
75 - 65: S.A.D. Alert: Severe Stress
64 - 50: Severe to moderate stress
49 - 35: Moderate stress
34 - 25: Light to moderate stress
Key for Interpreting the S.A.D. Index:
24 and below: Only people with extreme sensitivity to S.A.D. experience seasonal affective disorders below an Index reading of 24.
Day Clouds Weather Day Totals March 1: 21 18 17 56
March 10: 20 16 15 51
March 25: 18 13 12 43
March 31: 17 12 10 39
Journal
As March begins, the year enters full Early Spring, and I check the buds on trees and shrubs to be sure I have my seasons right.
I feel the hard, scarlet buds on the wild roses. I find the pale, supple buds of the honeysuckle, the blood-red buds on the blackberry canes.
I feel the fleshy, orange buds of the buckeyes, the tight, round, silver buds of the dogwoods. I touch the woody buds of the crab apples, the phallic protrusions of the ginkgoes, the soft green buds of the lilac, the sharp and thorn-like buds of the American beech, the deep purple bud cluster of the red maples.
I stroke the gray velvety buds of the white magnolia, the spongy opening pussy willow buds, the yellow-brown, fat sweet gum buds the buds of the tree-of-heaven, hiding in the hollows of last year’s branches, the pink quince buds, their color just starting to show. And all these buds and shoots and clusters convince me that they really are promises, prophesies, infallible predictions and forecasts of spring.