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Even cooler weather works for many hardy plants

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GARDEN JOURNAL

Farmers and gardeners often disagree about a lot of things, when to plant being the most basic. So-called "gambling growers" will try to beat others to market by planting their crops as early as possible, taking the risk that the crops will be killed by a late frost or other natural disaster.

Seed packets often say "plant as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring." But what does that really mean? Like the phrase, "your mileage may vary" -- taken from the disclaimer of EPA mileage ratings by car makers, which has become itself a qualifier so that it translates roughly as "who knows what will really happen in your situation."

One of the problems of the early spring garden isn't just the weather, it's the soil. Usually gardens are just too wet to work in early spring. One test is the mud ball test: dig down about 4 to 6 inches and take a handful of soil. Squeeze the soil into a ball and try to crumble it between your fingers. If it won't break apart, it is too wet. Once the soil ball crumbles easily, you are ready for planting.

Think cool-weather crops and you get the idea. The list of frost-hardy vegetables includes carrots, radishes, peas, snow peas, snap peas, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, Swiss chard, lettuce, cilantro, kale and beets.

Simply till your garden and plant any of the above vegetables. Even a brief cold snap shouldn't harm them, though most will be done in by a heavy snow or prolonged freezing.

For flowers try pansies, snapdragons, and dianthus, also called pinks. You can also plant lily bulbs and bare root roses.

To further speed up warming your soil try using raised beds. Since they sit above ground level, raised beds tend to drain better and warm up faster than the open ground.

You can also cover garden beds with sheets of black plastic for several weeks before you plant. You can even use black plastic trash bags. Just remove the plastic before planting, or plant seeds or set out seedlings through holes cut into it.

Besides cold-weather vegetables many flowers do well in early spring. Pansies, snapdragons, pinks, roses and lilies can all be set out while the weather is still far from balmy. You can buy flats of pansies or grow your own by direct seeding into the garden.

Pansies (Viola wittrockiana) are extremely cold hardy and can withstand brief spring frosts and freezing spells even while in full bloom.

Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) have the advantage of coming in various sizes and forms from so-called low-growing carpet snapdragons to spikes of rocket snaps, whose colorful blooms often reach two or three feet tall. Snapdragons can endure cool temperatures and light frosts, and can be planted as early as a week or two before your last frost.

Dianthuses (Dianthus spp.), also called pinks, are perennial flowers that actually prefer cool growing temperatures. Pinks begin blooming when daytime temperatures get into the 60s. In spite of the name "pinks" they are available in red, white, pink and even striped varieties.

Lilies (Lilium spp.) are hardy flowering bulbs that can be planted in very early spring. You may want to cover, very early lily plantings with a light mulch to protect against hard freezes. Once lilies begin to sprout, gently rake back the mulch to allow the soil to heat up. Like all bulbs lilies do best with good drainage as too much soil moisture will cause the bulbs to rot?

Bare-root roses are another good choice for planting in early spring as soon as the ground is thawed enough to be dug. So take a chance and plant cold-hardy vegetables and flowers "as soon as the ground can t be worked in the spring."

So when is "as soon as the soil can be worked?" Old farmers often went by the obvious rule that as soon as the weeds start to grow in your garden, it's time to plant your hardy vegetables and flowers. Your mileage may vary.

Paul Barbano writes about gardening from his home in Rehoboth Beach. Contact him by writing to P.O. Box 213, Lewes, DE 19958





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