Is this the most Optimistic Month of the Year?
Marching in to March
Here’s my pitch for yes -
It is the first month of Spring
Daffodils a-plenty - the most cheerful flower. Fact.
There is the Spring Equinox, or Vernal Equinox when the day and night is about equal length - after this, the pendulum tips with more day than night through to late June.
The clocks leap forward for British Summer Time and longer evenings.
And even the name ‘March’ is optimistic. I like the definitions ‘proceed or advance inexorably’ or ‘steady and inevitable development or progress of something’.
Couple that with the word ‘Spring’ and March is a right mover and shaker, optimistically skipping towards the light. I think I made my point.
In the garden, there are real signs of growth and much to be hopeful for. Buds swelling on trees and bulb tips pushing through the ground. Remember, it is not a race and certainly not a sprint. We are blinking out of of our wintering den. Wake up slowly with the garden.
This month straddles the end of the winter and beginning of spring - meaning that tasks in both seasons can be done with good results. Finishing off jobs from the previous year, and starting off the new. Shrubs, trees and hedging can still be planted. Hard woodcuttings should be at their most reliable to establish now - taken just before spring bud-burst. Last call for bare root roses too.
As the soil warms up and light levels rise, perennials will settle in and get away. I am trying to plant as much as I can. March is one of the most important spots in the calendar for tasks like this.
As fresh growth comes through the old, I cut back the dead stems of perennial. Whilst I know old season’s stems and seed heads protect the crown of the plant, feeding and sheltering wildlife, but when I cut it all back, the story of last year is removed and the new one ready for their turn.
This immediately smartens up the borders.
Hardy annual seeds can be started indoors, and a window sill of seedlings is a very hopeful sight. These are plants that germinate, grow, bloom and set seed all on one year. Since they can tolerate cold, these can be sown and planted out before the last frost date for earlier flowers. The same for many vegetables too. Cutting something to eat or arrange is incredibly satisfying.
There is really so much opportunity and potential for the growing year right now. That’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of gardening. A ’fail’ or mistake, never really matters for long, another year will come round again and have another go. Plants want to grow! It’s not like we are working against ourselves. A garden is a partnership. One of those relationships where you never argue, simply getting better and better with the more attention and love you give.
A beautiful garden is evidence of a gardener listening, being considerate and working with rather than against the other. A gardener knows the true meaning of delayed gratification and optimism - surely values we could all benefit from. In horticulture, instant is what happens in a whole growing season. Enjoy that fresh start with great hope and optimism.
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