Early Spring-Sping Growth update #2- Is it safe to plant Pansies?, Not Yet!

Daffodils and Hyacinths March 19th 2014

The past week has been cooler then the previous one. We've had warm days in the 50s and cooler days in the 40s. Regardless of the temperatures, my spring bulbs have still been growing quite fast. Daffodils are now up about 4" as seen above. Flowerbuds are showing on both Daffodils are Hyacinths. When I took a look at trees and shrubs for the post part all are dormant, but Silver Maple is showing signs of starting to break flower buds. A week or so of 50s would certainly burst things farther along into bloom, and we can expect upper 50s to near 60s tomorrow and Friday



  Snowdrops in Full bloom March 19th 2014

The Snowdrops have been looking quite nice in the past few days. On sunny days the little flowers open wide against the sun. We had a few nights in the lower 20s, and even nearly 2" of snow on Saturday night last weekend, but neither of that harmed them. I will have another growth update in the coming days.

Too early for Pansies!

I have seen gardens centers around Southern Iowa put pansies out for sale. So it has many people likely wondering, Is it too early for Pansies? The answer is yes! While true pansies can tolerate cool temperatures current night lows are still dipping well into the 20s at night which is too cold for Pansies and can make them limp and damaged. It is my suggestion not to be too temped by the cheery blossoms and wait until night lows are at least 35.F or warmer. Normally that is April 1st or later. For good early color, consider spring bulbs as seen above in the fall or any spring bulbs for sale now, which are sold in pots forced over the winter, those can be planted outside now. 

New landscaping March 19th 2014

Many people likely have Spring fever and are excited to plant, I know I was! I begun landscaping the yard today even though there is still frost in the soil in some areas, I was able to get some dormant shrubs I purchased in the ground. This is just a sneak peak of whats to come for my new yard, which was in desperate need of plants since it had nothing to start with!