Is it an early or late Spring?

This time of year we always hear, "My, it's such an early Spring!" or "It seems like it's a late Spring this year". 

So which is it this year? 

Let's compare to my journal notes on my Dakota subdivision Test Garden from 2004 - 2006:

2006:  March 5th - It warmed up during the day, although part cloudy and still cold at night. All the snow melted in 3-4 days. Worked in the yard today, lovely and 60’s. March 9th -  Several nice, warm days. March 13th -  It’s been snowing for 4 days. Rec’d maybe 10” last night, on top of 4 or so we got earlier. Snowy and stormy, cleared up this afternoon.
2005:    Mar 6th  -  Quite warm today – maybe 55, and lovely again. Tidied up where all the crabapple leaves settled. Ground still frozen and some icy snow piles in the N facing gardens. The South facing rock garden is a dust bowl already.  I cut back Yarrow, Karl Forrester,  Rudbeckia, Solidago, etc. Pulled lots of Pinks, severely cut back Marrubium which had spread to cover the nearby rocks. Looks like I lost a few rock garden plants – some Cactus, the Pasqueflower, maybe all the Stachys coccinea coral pink.  :  (  
2004:  March 7th -  A glorious day in the garden. Warm and lovely, our first taste of Spring. A marked contrast to yesterday, which was cold, gray, and windy. Worked outside on and off the whole day. The little crocuses in the Rock garden really shone today, they look very cute and cheery. A while back the deer got into the yard and really did a number on my Thuja. It was looking so wonderful, and now it’s quite ragged.  March 9th - Lovely coffee walk around the garden at 7:30. Another beautiful day. More deer got in somehow.  They ate or pulled out most of the beautiful purple hens and chicks I just admired Sunday. They were full and lovely and now they are destroyed. Argggh!  They also pulled small plants and chomped the tops off other things. I need to have someone trap the skunk living under the porch, very smelly and destructive! Also need to cover the soil surface in the rock garden with crushed lava fines this year, it looks very crusty and ugly this time of year.   Mar 12th  - Another beautiful day, smoothed everything out, fixed and watered all plants. Very dry in areas. Lots of bulbs starting!

Back corner of test garden, May 4 2004

Verdict? 

Based on this comparison, in the Mid-Valley area, this year is a slightly late Spring, courtesy of a 2 late snowfalls that haven't completely melted yet.  There is too much snow and it's too wet to want to "garden" much just yet.  But, the weather certainly is typical - some beautiful warm days last week, followed by a mini-blizzard tonite!  
 



To Do in the Garden: 
* Remember not to tread too heavily on your wet soil – it will compact it and you’ll just have to aerate and compost it later, but as soon as it’s a bit drier, it will be time to cut back most of the plants you did not cut back last winter.

* You can see that deer and skunks are an issue to guard against in the garden now.  Get out your Deer Off or Ropel and spray your special plants. You want to train the cute young ones that your garden does not taste good. Make their first bite this Spring an unpleasant one!!

*  Why not make note of any areas that have problems right now? I look for areas of standing water, gardens that needed more mulch, places where you really need a path, gardens that don’t have enough “structure” so look especially barren – so you can fix them this summer. And by all means, look for areas where you can add bulbs next Fall!

                                                                               Tulips April 23 2005