The Last Frost, etc. and Your Perennials

[ducks4you]

View attachment 2237
Examples of phenological correlations include:
• Plant peas when forsythia blooms.
• Plant potatoes when the first dandelion blooms.
• Plant beets, carrots, cole crops, lettuce and spinach when lilac is in first leaf.
• Plant corn when oak leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear.
• Plant bean, cucumber, and squash seeds when lilac is in full bloom.
• Plant tomatoes when lily-of-the-valley plants are in full bloom.
• Transplant eggplant, melons, and peppers when irises bloom.
[/QUOTE]
I think I'll try this chart this year. After ALL, it ISN'T always your zone, or what is happening 30 miles north of you or 30 miles south of you. It is what is happening in YOUR back yard with YOUR perennials (and annuals, like dandylions) that will tell you what's what.
I am working on my north pasture to get the pasture grass back. I am encouraged to see it FULL of dandylions, which the horses love and they are good for them, bc it was getting down to clover and weeds.
Here is an interesting article about pasture management:
http://signin.juliegoodnight.com/articles/free-articles/feeding-transitions-in-the-spring/

 

[Nyboy]

Good luck with corn ducks what size is a squirrels ear?

 

[valley ranch]

Quote duck4you: I am concerned about my peach tree which has blossoms on it. We are expected to have a low of 31 degrees F Friday

The Last Frost is only a legend!

 

[Smart Red]

Quote duck4you: I am concerned about my peach tree which has blossoms on it. We are expected to have a low of 31 degrees F Friday

The Last Frost is only a legend!

Not exactly legend, but "NORMAL" which is made up of all the past temperatures added together and divided by the number added. It is not a given since weather is nothing if not unpredictable, but it is a useful date to use when considering planting things.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I was in Walmart today and they have a lot of frost damaged plants. By the chart I could plant potatoes, beets, carrots, cole crops, lettuce and spinach, which I have lettuce planted under plastic and going very slow. I have cabbage and kale under plastic in the sawhorse greenhouse and they are growing slow.

 

[digitS']

Those solar calendar dates make a lot of sense to me ..

. because, after all, they have to do with where the Sun is in the Sky. The Sun, which powers all plant growth. And then, the Earth is in the balance with Life.

@Nyboy , it should help to know that there are other signs for that corn-planting moment, and the gardener would be wise not to take all of the seeds from the basket at once. Maybe, "when apple blossoms begin to fall, or when dogwoods are in full bloom" helps (words found in Mother Earth News ).

Any hard-&-fast associated with actual dates doesn't really take into account that Sky of air that surrounds us and the Earth. It moves about, with its storms and range of temperatures almost without fetters, as @Smart Red suggests.

Steve

 

[digitS']

@Gardening with Rabbits , about that Wal-Mart management: I made a stop at a garden centre, yesterday. As I headed down one aisle, a mouse ran across in front of me.

You know how those places are rather open affairs, especially during about half the year. It should not really surprise anyone if a mouse moves in.

Anyway, I got down to where the mouse had been and what do I find on the top shelf? It's the store cat, asleep ... Cats, Wal-Mart management ... there is probably some equivalency.

Steve

 

[buckabucka]

At this point, I'm wondering how I'm ever going to plant! Normally, I put the peas is around April 19th.
Here is our yard, morning of April 5th. A light coating of fresh snow, and big piles of snow and ice still waiting to melt.

 

[Carol Dee]

@buckabucka Will spring ever come? Crazy how much snow you still have.
We have been up and down with temps. Lately it has been very gloomy with plenty of rain. Today is to be a rain/snow mix. Followed with frost/freeze tonight. Argh Some fruit trees are trying to bloom, so this could be bad. Normally April 15th is our last frost date.

 

[ducks4you]

@NyboyAny hard-&-fast associated with actual dates doesn't really take into account that Sky of air that surrounds us and the Earth. It moves about, with its storms and range of temperatures almost without fetters, as @Smart Red suggests.

Steve[/QUOTE]
Exactly. Our average last frost date is April 15th, but in the 1980's Central IL had snow in May. My wonderful (now passed) MIL didn't put her tomatoes out until Memorial Day, although we did eat her lettuce in April.