Here are a couple more ditties you might appreciate;

1)
“The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.

When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here.”

2)
“Springtime is the land awakening.
The March winds are the morning yawn.”

St. Patrick’s Day, Wednesday, March 17, is a time of celebration and one symbol is the shamrock, but identifying a particular plant as the shamrock is debatable. The term “shamrock” derives from the Irish word, seamrog, which means “little clover.” The three-leafed shamrock is thought to be a representation of the Holy Trinity in Ireland. Four leaved clovers are rare and thought to be lucky, so rather than searching for four leaved clovers, a time consuming task, cheat and use oxalis leaves (4 leaves , well lobes if you prefer) and everyone a winner. There I am sure some of my Irish readers will put me straight (assuming I have some!)

March 20th is the Vernal, or Spring, Equinox, the beginning of astronomical spring, so still not quite there yet then (if reading this before or yippee we are past it if after).

Right, upwards and onwards with the blog…

Order bedding plants, fuchsias, geraniums, marguerites and other young plug plants from mail-order suppliers, as well as summer-flowering bulbs, such as dahlia, gladioli and eucomis; you get my drift which is a horticultural term for planting or sowing in a free flowing group which is what you should be looking to do with such plantings when you get them.

Now is a good time of year for pruning roses, shrubs and in particular your wisteria to ensure good flowering later.

Seed sowing plans should take into account whether you will need an electric propagator to encourage early germination and growth.

My peach and nectarine which suffered terribly with peach leaf curl last year are just showing signs of their buds swelling. When flowers are showing, hand pollinate with a soft brush, gardening books usually insists on it being camel hair. Outdoor trees should be given a routine copper spray or such like against peach-leaf curl.

It is also a good time to check over your machinery and tools, remember you cleaned and oiled them in the autumn/winter and put them to bed ready for the hard work in the spring, didn’t you?

As the days start lengthening and warming up, early weeds start making an appearance so keep on top of them as stitch in time saves nine.

Going back to the vegetables, these can be given an early start by using perforated polythene after sowing which will encourage early emergence and growth. This can then be substituted with fleece as they start to grow away for a bit of insect protection.

A number of articles will mention that in mild regions, early potatoes are planted out in the second half of the month and in colder regions, in April. Here in Jersey the main planting started at the beginning of January, well there were one or two fields planted in the run up to Christmas!

Oh yes, mow the lawn if it looks like it could do with a trim, keep the first cut high and only do it if dry.

A bientot.