My friends, this has been a winter of rather epic proportions. Enough snow arrived here in January for the entire winter, and as of today, there is still a glacier in my front garden that is slowly receding. We were lucky our roses have this wonderfully insulating snow to protect their canes.

If you are like me, you are anxious to get out and clean up the beds and begin pruning. Especially me, as I had some major back problems late in the fall and was unable to cut back as I normally would. Each day the sun is rising closer to the east (I swear that in the winter it rises in the south and sets in the south!)and it gets higher in the sky. The snow pack in my back yard, with the benefit of recent rains and strong March sunshine has retreated seemingly overnight. The temptation to begin spring clean-up is as strong as the sun’s new vitality!

March Roses

But, wait! Here in north-central Connecticut, the month of March is such a tease! It’s quite possible we could get hit with a really impressive snowstorm…it’s happened many times in the past. The nights are still in the 20’s, and sometimes dip into the teens. Even though it seems innocuous to go out and prune our roses now, as soon as we begin, something happens deep in the heart of our sleeping rose. Pruning stimulates growth, so with each cut we coax the rose out of dormancy.

Follow your heart, but try to wait until the forsythia blooms in your neighborhood. That is the general marker that gets our gardening season up and running. So for right now, sharpen up your pruners, loppers, and edgers, check with your local garden center to see what roses they have ordered in for the Spring 2011 season, and watch the way the sun travels across your property to give you an idea where to put new beds. Just remember that where deciduous trees are now naked in full sun, that same sun will disappear when the trees leaf out. Plan your new beds far away from trees if you can. Roses need a solid six hours of sunshine a day…more if you can manage.

Next month is planting month! Do some stretching exercises, go for long walks, and try to build up your muscles that probably went dormant with the roses this winter! Wake up those muscles starting now so your body won’t scream at you when you really start working out in the garden!

Till April!