On Your Mark, Get Set, Plant! Well... almost.

                

Its that time again. Planning and planting are always on my mind this time of year. Actually, I start scheming in January after all the holiday craziness has passed. The seed catalogs start pouring in and plant magazines begin filling my mailbox and covering my bedside table. My mind drifts in and out of memories of past springtimes when I couldn't wait to get out and begin placing those first seeds in the earth. And then waiting for those blessed seeds to emerge no longer as seeds but transformed into living, growing things is magical. To see something so seemingly fragile and perfect push out of the ground is so rewarding.  

So where to begin? Some of you may think it is too early to be thinking or talking about planting, let alone actually doing it. But that is where you are mistaken my friends. Now is the time. When living in Utah I set St. Patricks Day as my start date. If I were doing my own starts, I would begin even sooner. Here in Baltimore, if I had a garden I would have put peas in the ground weeks ago.  
To know when the proper planting time is, you first need to know your zone. There are many helpful websites with this information or you could try to decipher the map above. haha Personally, I like the NGAs' because it is easy to use but they all pretty much have the same details. Another site I have found helpful is OFA with a table of frost dates. Keep in mind, these are guidelines only. There are variables that can alter these numbers. Take for instance when I lived in UT, using the USDA guide I would see that I am in zone 5A when really I was it was closer to 6B. What the finder that can't take into account is my specific location in that zone. You see, I lived near the downtown area and was effected by something called urban warming. (Quite simply put, when living in or near an urban area with a greater concentration of buildings and other man-made structures(garages, parking lots, highways, etc) the general temperature for that area can be significantly increased.) Knowing this helps to understand why someone living in the same zip code and technically the same USDA zone, could actually be in a completely different zone. Urban warming isn't the only thing to consider. Your home may face full south and the beds in front might actually support plants suited to a higher zone than the beds on the back - north facing side, which was the case with my Provo cottage. Finally, it may take you a couple of seasons to fully understand your garden and recognize the different growing areas and what you can expect. Don't worry about understanding it all right now. That will come as you spend more time getting to know your own space. BTW...the simplest and best way to do that is to spend time in it.

I don't give this information to confuse or overwhelm. Rather, I hope it helps explain why some things may or may not thrive in your garden. When I realized my front bed was much warmer than any other place in my garden, I could throw it earlier or just add plants that wouldn't survive anywhere else. 

But I am have gotten sidetracked.

Next post we'll talk more about what to plant, but until then figure out what zone you live in and consider what special circumstances you might have. Having trouble, let me know. We'll figure it out together.

Ciao!