Early Spring Planting

As the daylight hours grow longer and the last chunks of ice and snow melt away, our yards come to life with fresh scents, green shoots, and the sounds of chirping birds. Like many homeowners, you may be eager to start gardening, but what will grow in the early spring?

This is a time of year when the weather fluctuates wildly with warm weather one day, then hail and cold winds the next. Only the hardiest plants can thrive in the early spring. 

Consider the following options:

Vegetables

1. Lettuce: Plant the seeds as early as mid-March. A row cover is a good way to deter insects and other predators and speed up growth. Although seed packages suggest it may take 45 to 50 days to harvest, you can usually pluck a few leaves from each plant for weeks on end, allowing the plant to keep regenerating.  
2. Spinach: This healthy green can be grown in much the same way as lettuce, although spinach is a ‘heavy feeder’ that requires nutrient-rich soil and regular applications of fertilizer.
3. Carrots: This sweet and hearty root vegetable grows best in full sunlight. If possible, grow under a row cover to deter carrot flies. Also, consider planting onions and garlic next to your carrots.
4. Radishes: Available in an array of colours, zesty radishes are perfect in spring salads. Lightly till the soil to loosen it before planting radish seeds. 
5. Peas: Snow peas and pod peas all thrive in cool spring soil. Most peas do best when the long tendrils can cling to and climb some sort of trellis. 
6. Onions: This tasty bulb can be grown from seeds or offshoot bulbs, both of which are available at garden stores (or buy open pollinating onions so that you can save your own for next spring). Onions require regular weeding and watering to reach peak size and flavour.
7. Potatoes: Yes, you can grow a plant from a piece of potato that has started to sprout an ‘eye’. Buy your favourite type of organic potatoes, put them in a paper bag on the counter for a week to sprout, then plant in lightly tilled soil enhanced with compost. Tip: Once a shoot emerges from the soil, place a thick layer of dry straw around it to keep down the weeds and maintain moisture around the roots. 
8. Cruciferous vegetables (e.g., broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts): According to the Farmer’s Almanac, cabbage seeds were traditionally planted on St. Patrick’s Day and farmers believed that to make them grow well, you needed to plant them while wearing your nightclothes! One thing certain to improve your luck is to sow your cruciferous seeds indoors in March for transplanting to the garden in May.
   
   

Ground flowers

Many of these ground flowers bloom early, then wilt as warmer weather arrives. Although they can be short-lived, they are worth the effort. When little else is growing, these flowers reward you with delicate, brilliantly coloured flowers. You can also try succession gardening, which means that as one plant goes dormant, another grows in its place. 

1. Pansies produce jewel-coloured, velvety flowers that can last for weeks depending on the specific variety. 
2. Bleeding hearts have striking fuchsia, heart-shaped blossoms.
3. Crocus is a low-growing plant with relatively large blue, purple or yellow flowers. 
4. Dwarf Iris (Iris pumila) is another small plant that produces large blue and purple flowers. 
5. Daffodils planted in partial or full sun will produce brilliant yellow flowers in early spring.
6. Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis) has delicate white flowers against broad blue-green leaves that provide a nice ground cover long after the flowers fade. 
7. Glory of the Snow (Scilla forbesii) will eventually create a carpet of periwinkle blue flowers.  
8. Lily of the Valley produces long-lasting, sweetly scented, bell-shaped, white flowers.
9. Grape Hyacinth has unusual, blue flower clusters that resemble grapes.
   
   

Note: Some of these ground flowers should be planted in the fall.

Bush flowers

1. Viburnum (a.k.a. Snow Globe) requires full sun to develop large, round clusters of pale pink and white flowers.
2. Lilac, which interestingly is a member of the olive tree family, releases a remarkable and potent scent from cone-shaped flower clusters.
3. Bridalwreath (Spiraea prunifolia) generates a profusion of dainty pure white flowers from early- to mid-spring.
4. Heath (a.k.a. Heather) is a low, compact bush that becomes covered in tiny white, pink or purple flowers.
   
   

After the long winter months, it is exhilarating to garden in the fresh air and sunshine of early spring. Enjoy!