These are early spring days that are warming my blood! After a very mild winter (all but one weekend that dragged us to 14 below zero) March has arrived like a lamb. It was 81 degrees two days ago, we’ve had a bit of rain, and the seven day forecast is predicting no temps below freezing. Most of our recent days have been in the 60’s and the bright red, swollen buds on the trees are getting bigger by the day. It doesn’t take long for plants to wake up under the strong March sun when the air is warm like this.

I went into the garage to check the potted roses. It’s always cooler in the garage than it is outside this time of year, but even so…all the roses in there had broken dormancy and were beginning to grow. I had no choice but to bring them outside into the light so they wouldn’t wind up looking like sprouted potatoes! I brought them around to the back of the house and tucked them into the Sunrise Garden between the dormant planted roses. This is a very sheltered spot where they will be protected if it gets really cold again.

The Urge to Garden

Warm days like this get my soul moving and the temptation to begin pruning is huge!! I don’t know a rose gardener that doesn’t get excited about opening the garden. I, myself, have had a break from my gardening duties since last November and I am so excited about getting growing that I can hardly contain myself! My pruners (thanks to my husband, Bob) are sharp enough to shave with. My loppers are lubricated and ready to go. I have a fresh bottle of Elmer’s Glue at the ready to seal up my canes to keep the borers out for the coming season. I have been going for a walk every day, and I have checked the soil.

There is no frost in the ground, and the moles have been busy shoving up huge eruptions of soil along the sidewalk in front of my neighbor’s house. I’ve already seen earthworms, and the robins, grackels, red-winged blackbirds, and mockingbirds are all back. The house finches are bright red and the goldfinches are turning bright yellow. Papa cardinal is calling out his territory and settling in with a wife. All the birds seem to be pairing off, as a matter of fact, and they are singing again in the morning! The spring peepers have been chirping all night for the last few days, too. I find all this very exciting, but still…I am holding back.

Resist!

Why? Because it is still winter. I am watching the long-range forecast, and my bones tell me we will have an early spring, but I will wait for another week or so before I will consider pruning. It’s still very early in the season…actually, official Spring is still nine days away. I always garden by what my plants are telling me rather than going by the calendar, but after all my years in the rose garden my common sense is telling me to stay the course and see what the near future brings.

I must admit, though…I had to do something! So, I pruned the roses in the pots that spent the winter in the garage. They were actively growing and I didn’t want them to use up all their energy sprouting all the way up the canes that needed to be pruned down, anyway. For the rest of my roses? I’m just going to wait and see what the weather brings.