What to do in your garden in march - Mountain: Checklist

Sunset, March, 2003 by Marcia Tatroe

PLANNING AND PLANTING

* PLANT GRAPES. Dormant vines are available now and can be planted as soon as the soil is workable. Choose hardy varieties such as 'Beta', 'Concord', 'Golden Muscat', 'Interlaken', 'Lakemont', 'Suffolk Red', and 'Valiant'. Two good mail-order sources are Raintree Nursery (www.raintreenursery.com or 360/496-6400) and St. Lawrence Nurseries (www.sln.potsdam.ny.us or 315/265-6739).

* SEEK XERISCAPE AID ONLINE.

For guidance on converting your landscape to a water-thrifty Xeri-scape, visit these websites: www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/1904. html or www.xeriscape.org

* SOW COOL-SEASON VEGETABLES. If you didn't prepare planting beds last fall, dig several inches of well-rotted manure or compost into the soil as soon as it is workable. Then sow seeds of beets, carrots, endive, kohlrabi, lettuce, onions, parsnips, peas, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, and turnips.

* SOW MESCLUN SALAD MIX.

Mesclun greens take as few as 25 days from sowing to harvest. Sow seeds in good garden soil. Thin seedlings when they're 2 inches tall; use thinnings in salads and continue harvesting all season. Each seed firm creates its own mesclun mixes. Look on nursery seed racks for one of these blends from Botanical Interests (800/486-2647 or www.gardentrails.com): Micro Greens Mild Mix, Micro Greens Spicy Mix, or Q's Special Mesclun Mix.

* SOW WILDFLOWERS. Scatter seeds of wildflowers directly over the ground where you want them to grow. Among drought-tolerant flowers that germinate best in cold, moist soil are annual coreopsis (C. tinctoria), California desert blue-bells (Phacelia campanularia), mountain phlox (Linanthus grandiflorus), Tahoka daisy (Aster eanacetifolius), and Texas bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis). Seeds of these plants are available from Plants of the Southwest (www.plantsofthesouthwest.com or 800/788-7333).

* TRANSPLANT ROSES. While they're still dormant, transplant rosebushes that are too large for their site or are not blooming well because of too much shade. Cut the canes back to 2 to 3 feet, then dig deeply around the plant to extract as many roots as possible. When choosing a new site, consider the east or north side of the house, where roses will be more protected from freeze-thaw cycles in winter. Position roses far enough from the house walls that they receive 3 to 5 hours of direct sunlight daily.

FLORICULTURE

* CUT BRANCHES FOR FORCING. Using sharp pruners, cut budding branches of bridal wreath spiraea, flowering quince, forsythia, honeysuckle, pussywillow, and service-berry. Place the stems in a bucket of lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar and a drop of chlorine bleach, then put the container in a cool, sunlit room; change the solution twice a week. When blossoms open, use the branches in flower arrangements.