Sponsored by Thomasville Garden Club, Inc.
MARCH WEATHER
Spring officially arrives on March 19. Days are becoming longer, weather is becoming warmer during the day and at night, and we are eager to take care of our yardens and start planting our favorite plants. According to the several gardening websites, our average last frost occurs between March 11 and 21 and it is unlikely after March 26. However, this is just a reminder because, as I always say, nothing about South Georgia weather is absolutely certain.
The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center has issued its March outlook and predicted that our temperatures this month will be near normal (according to climate-data.org, our average high temperature is 71.5⁰ and our average low is 51.8⁰), and our precipitation will be about 50% to 60% above normal (on average, we receive 4.2 inches precipitation this month).
SIGNIFICANT MARCH “YARDEN” DATES
Sunday, March 10 – Daylight Saving Time (DST or EDT, meaning Eastern Daylight Time; they are the same) begins at 2 a.m. This occurs on the 2nd Sunday in March, every year. “Spring forward” is the way to remember to set your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed on Saturday night. I read something that might help those who have difficulty adjusting to the loss of an hour during this time change: Go to bed 15 minutes earlier each night for 4 nights. If you start on the 8th, by the time you get to the 12th, you will already be going to bed an hour earlier, without an abrupt alteration in your schedule. Pretty clever. Another thing to remember on this date is to check the batteries in your smoke detectors.
Sunday, March 17 — “Hummingbird Homecoming.” I love this expression, introduced to me by Sharon Chastain when I moved to Thomasville 32 years ago. Welcome hummers back to your yarden this month. Hummers fly separately, by day, without any guidance from their elders; and they usually use the same route that they have always flown in order to avail themselves of tail winds as well as the areas that they know have abundant nectar sources. In addition, they fly lower than one probably suspects, just above the terrain. According to “Hummingbird Central” website, a hummingbird is able to travel as far as 23 miles in a day, although they can cross the Gulf of Mexico in a single 500-mile trip. Their average speed is about 20 to 3o miles per hour. According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the ruby-throated hummingbirds is the only species of hummingbird that nests in Georgia; it is also the most common hummer found here and it is the species that may remain here year-round. However, during the year these 11 species call our state home: Allen’s, Anna’s, black-chinned, broad-billed, broad-tailed, calliope, green-breasted mango, green violet-ear, magnificent, rufous, and ruby-throated hummingbirds.
Welcome and reward hummingbirds with clean feeders. It is best to make your own nectar for feeders because store-bought nectar and powders contain red coloring, which is harmful to hummingbirds. Use this easy recipe: dissolve 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Keep feeders fresh by cleaning them weekly. Entice hummers by planting flowers they love: red, orange, purple/red tubular flowers with lots of nectar, since they live exclusively on flowers. Examples are bee balms, columbines, fuchsias, honeysuckles, nasturtiums, nicotianas, and sages. They need no landing areas since they hover while feeding. Try a combination of annuals, perennials, and vines to create a well-rounded hummingbird garden.
Tuesday, March 20 — The March (or Vernal) Equinox occurs at 11:06 p.m. EDT (DST). The March equinox heralds the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere (the Vernal or Spring Equinox) and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (the Autumnal Equinox). It marks the moment that the sun crosses the celestial equator, which is an imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator, from south to north. This happens every year on either March 19, 20 or 21. On this day, the sun rises due east and sets due west. This is true no matter where you live on Earth, except at the North and South Poles, where there is no east or west!
At an equinox, the sun shines directly on the equator, the length of day and night is nearly equal and the sun rises due east and sets due west. Therefore, on the day of an equinox, the setting sun is dropping almost straight down from above. A neat sight to see!
2 ADVANCE NOTICES
1. Solar Eclipse Coming. On April 8, a total solar eclipse will cross our continent. We Georgians will not be in the path of the total eclipse, however; instead, we will get a partial eclipse. It will begin at 11:42 a.m. EDT and end at 4:52 p.m. EDT. We will not have another total solar eclipse crossing North America until 2045, so next month’s event is pretty exciting.
2. Thomasville Garden Club’s 103rd Annual Standard Flower Show, entitled “This Land We Love,” will be held on Friday, April 26 from 2-5 p.m. and Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Thomasville Garden Center, 1102 S. Broad Street. It is open and free to the public.
IN BLOOM
I have enjoyed seeing the following plants blooming: azaleas, camellias, Carolina jessamine, Knock out Roses, magnolias, tea olive trees, and yellow shrimp plants. A neighbor’s flowering ornamental fruit tree and my own little snowdrops (Leucojum) with their little green dot on each petal lift my spirits every time see them. I am a perfect example of how nature has a positive impact on one’s life!
TO DO
Early this month, finish pruning summer-blooming plants and most woody ornamentals, such as beautyberry, viburnum, crape myrtle, floribunda roses, tea olive, abelia, grandiflora roses, Japanese barberry, Japanese spirea, nandina, and Rose of Sharon (Althea).
Prune spring-flowering plants like azalea, forsythia and dogwood soon after they bloom.
If dead plant material is visible, it can be pruned away at any time of year. Pruning is often necessary for the health of a plant. It removes disease, rejuvenates overgrown shrubs and makes plants fuller and more attractive. Remember to prune plants in the shape of a pyramid, with the bottom larger than the top, in order to permit light to penetrate them. It is good to cut a bit above a bud and cut on a slant, to allow water to slide easily off a newly cut surface.
Around March 11, start watching the weather forecast and, as soon as no frost is forecast, you can start transplanting tomatoes, peppers and eggplants into the ground.
Around March 15 (or whenever the soil is near 60⁰), summer vegetables such as beans, corn, cowpeas, cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins and watermelons, as well as gourds and sunflowers can be seeded directly into the ground.
This is the month to plant or repair lawns, plant ornamental grasses and permanent ground covers.
Feed houseplants that are growing or blooming.
MARCH QUOTE
“I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” ~ Ruth Stout — 1844-1980; an American author of books commending “no-work” gardening techniques.
Pat Pankey writes this column for Thomasville Garden Club, Inc. as a service to the community. Thomasville Garden Club, Inc. welcomes new members. If you are interested, please contact Membership Chair Vicky Johnson at 224-0590 or any current member. The Garden Center has a library of books about gardening that are available not only to garden club members but also to the general public. To access the library or to visit the Garden Center, please contact Mary Tomlinson at 229-406-6046 or any current member. You may contact Linda Tarver, 229-403-1187 or Joe Tarver, 904-612-4204 if you are interested in renting the Garden Center for an event. The Garden Center is always open to the public on the Wednesday before the first Friday of every month, September through May. Please visit our website at www.thomasvillegardenclub.org and find us on Facebook.