March in the Garden

Mid-March is time to plant sunflower seeds for blooms around the Fourth of July.

There are many great varieties of sunflowers, so stagger your starts with different colors and sizes over the next few months to have blooming beauties into the fall. It is preferable to start seeds in a flat with seed starter soil and let them grow until they are about 5 to 6 inches tall before planting them in the ground.

Snails and slugs LOVE to munch on fresh seedlings and will take them to the ground overnight, so starting your seeds in flats will help avoid that disappointment.

I’ve grown all kinds of sunflowers, but my favorites are the giant sunflowers with green centers, which I will plant in March, and the smaller multi-headed red and orange sunflowers, that I will plant later in the spring for fall blooms.

Sunflowers are one of the most satisfying plants to grow for all ages because they are easy to nurture, grow quickly and are spectacular to have in your garden. Bees will happily buzz around as flowers open up. For a new or young gardener, the novelty of a tall plant with a giant flower is unbeatable. For older kids, point out the Fibonacci Sequence (a mathematical sequence found everywhere in nature) in the seed patterns. I don’t save the seeds for eating, but I do cut the heads off the stalks when they are done blooming and lay them out for the birds to pick at, completing a perfect cycle in the garden.

In the spirit of beautifying our town for the annual Coronado

Flower Show, it’s time to get your yard looking its best for the annual Home Front Judging from March 31-April 2. ✿ Garden Prep Remove mulch gradually over the next couple of months from your perennial beds and recycle through your compost bins, refreshing your beds with new mulch. ✿ Planting Now that the weather is warming up, it’s time to plant most anything, including seeds, perennials, natives and citrus, but wait another month to plant tropicals. ✿ Watering Don’t let your roses dry out. Water your roses with 1½ inches of water, twice a week. ✿ Fertilizer Plants are going into major growth mode, so fertilizing is your biggest job this month. I use fish emulsion for just about everything and it should be readily available at your favorite garden shop. Consult your nursery if you have questions. ✿ Pest & Disease Control The snails and slugs seem to appear out of nowhere this time of year. Their arrival is timed with tender new growth on plants. Watch for their slimy trails and eradicate with bait (Sluggo is a favorite, safe deterrent) or hand picking. Find their hiding spots under and behind pots. Aphids are another pest feasting on new growth. They can be blasted off with a strong spray from the hose. ✿ Pruning Hibiscus blooms on new wood, so pruning the plant promotes fuller growth instead of having flowers on the end of a leggy stalk. Thin your fruit trees (apple, pears and other stone fruit) when the fruit reaches about a half inch in size, spacing about four inches between fruit. ✿ Miscellaneous House plants need love, too. Take them outside and give them a good wash to dust them off and flush out their pots, adding fresh soil if needed. Keep them out of the sun while they dry so they don’t burn.

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