At last … the first day of spring

With all the rain we’ve had this winter, maybe we should try growing rice! All kidding aside; we have lucked out with another “easy” winter. We can only hope this coming summer won’t be as hot as the last one.

Working in the yard is tricky right now as it is so soggy. Traffic on it will compact it and that is not a good thing. Try to stay off it as much as possible. Even though it’s tempting, it is too early to apply lawn fertilizer. The grass won’t be able to use it until the ground warms up, so don’t waste your time and your money.

If you’re seeing tiny weeds beginning to grow, you may want to toss some Preen into those areas. This stuff prevents the seeds from sprouting. The downside is that it will also prevent any volunteer flower seeds — such as cosmos, lupines and annual poppies — from coming up. Sometimes you just can’t win.

According to the USDA Hardiness Zone 6 map, there are some things we can plant outdoors now. These include blueberries, strawberries and other hardy perennial plants. These can go in from late March to mid May. The hard part may be in finding these to buy now. Once the area greenhouses open, there shouldn’t be a problem. Most of those are back in business by early April.

Keep an eye on your clematis vines. Once you see fat leaf buds getting ready to open, go ahead and cut the vines down...but not all the way to the ground. You want to leave 3 or 4 sets of buds. Lightly dig in some fertilizer and stand back. Once they start growing, you may think they’re related to Jack’s bean stalk.

With so many plants shooting up new growth, go ahead and rake the debris out of your flowerbeds. Just be careful not to break off those new leaves and buds. Lots of plants are blooming now including crocuses, primroses and Lenten roses. Early tulips and daffodils and others are coming into flower too.

While you’re cleaning up those flowerbeds, be sure to pull any old leaves off your roses. Also pick up and destroy any old leaves which are on the ground next to your roses. These harbor nasty diseases such as black spot.

Be sure to get your birdhouses cleaned out as early nesters will be checking them out very soon. Most will not move into a house which contains a nest from previous years. Bird feeders need to be taken down and cleaned every so often. Wet seeds can get moldy and cause fatal diseases in birds. My feeders are being visited by lots of chickadees, nuthatches and Cassin’s finches. Other birds like eating off the ground instead. These include mourning doves, song sparrows and juncos. The “spring and summer” birds should be arriving before long.

Today is the official first day of spring. Those are sweet words when heard by all of us, especially those with green thumbs. Actually, mine are more “brown” than “green” as I can rarely keep a pair of gloves on.

Not being much of a fan of texting, one of my favorite mottos is, “Unplug and get your hands dirty.”

Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is currently serving as secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls. Her column appears in The Press every other Sunday from early March until late October.