March 2006...Northwest Tennessee

[joyce]

The Bradford Pear trees are starting to bud out good here. All kind of buttercups blooming. My bleeding heart, asiactic lilies, and tulips are coming up.
My plum tree is in bloom, way to early, I won't have any plums this year, again.
My purple clematis is budding good. I think it's a little to early on some stuff.
Maple trees are budding good thru here. The yellow forysthania bushes are trying to bloom.
Still to wet here to get in the garden. Wish I could. I'd be planting my taters, cabbage, onions, and carrots. That's bout all I have in the early garden.
Just wanted to share with ya'll

[cenaub4]

Will your coming frosts be enough to whack the buds/blooms?

I have been living in a No Frost Zone for 26 years, so my brain doesn't compute, sorry.
I planted most of my onions in December. Still planting onions.

It sounds wonderful. You grow so many things that I don't. Not enough interested or persons to consume. Gets my goat when I grow it, and No One appreciates it!

I have sugar snap peas nearly an inch tall. Set up the trellis's that my husband made out of bamboo. Not trelllis, but teepee's, really.

I have been doing well in the garden, getting lots of good compost. So, I'm looking forward to seeing folks garden pix!

So, Joyce, I'm guessing that 'taters, cabbage, onions, and carrots' deal well with cold temps? Or what you've been dealing with?

[joyce]

So far bout the only concerns I have thru here are the fruit trees budding to early. It's getting harder seems like each year to have a decent fruit harvest. It warms up to quick in Feb. and Early March, then we will get a blast with temps dipping down in the mid 20's and, well you guessed it, bye bye most of the fruit.

Usually the stuff in the early gardens round here enjoy the cool temps and seem to flourish. Now I have seen my tater tops get nipped off and have to come back out again. But the cabbage, carrots, stuff like that it generally doesn't bother that.

After yesterday with all the rain we got, plus what came last night it was nearly 4 inches. Needless to say my ground will not be workable for awhile now, so I don't even know if I will get an early garden in. I do have some raised beds that I planted my carrots in last year and they seemed to do good in that, so I may go that route again this year.

We live in Zone 7 thru this neck of the woods. Our last frost usually is bout the middle of April. Notice I said usually ;D.

[olhillbilly]

Joyce,
I thought you lived near enuff to Arkansas to have some of they're rocks sproutin up there?

I wudda thougt youd have good drainage.

[joyce]

Nope, no rocks thru here. Shoot all our good soil has been washed over the years down into the Mississippi River. Anytime we get alot of rain thru here you can see the topsoil waving bye bye, see ya, heading to Dyer County. Alot of red clay thru here. Guess it ain't had time to make any rocks yet

[cenaub4]

Yeah, my mom loses her plums nearly every year. Last year, no killing late frost to nip the apricots, pears or Plums. The reason I go on, and on about the plums is because she raises bloom plums, makes GREAT canned plums, and awsome wine, too!

I'm not a big apricot fan, although if there, I will help clean and can. I do like pears, she has Asian and um, er, others. So, out of her 40 trees, and the 16 or so that are fruit, she often gets whalloped by cold temps.

Joyce, I'm sorry to hear that you may suffer again. And that so much rain has kept you out of the garden. We have been FINALLY getting some rain. Up until the first of March, we had only gotten 1.63 inches in our season. We truely need a goodly amount to hydrate the natives, and to help bolster the reseviours for fire season.

My weeds are Going MAD already. Had to move the chicken tractor just so the birds can do some weed control and macking down to get some control!

[joyce]

We ought to be use to it thru here by now, seems like it happens every year, but you keep hoping maybe this is the one year the weather will do right.

Right now the maples, redbuds, Japanese maples, crab apples, some of the early peach trees are in full bloom. Alot of my perennials are coming up. Have lots of buttercups still in bloom, grape hycaniths, some tulips, my bleeding hearts are real pretty. I will post some pictures later.

The ground was almost ready to work Saturday. I just didn't feel up to the challenge. Now the rain is back and it has turned cold again. Oh well, still plenty of time.