Spring Equinox this year in our hemisphere falls on Sunday, March 20 in contrast to meteorological spring that began on March 1st. You might also see it called the vernal equinox. It marks a cherished calendar date for gardeners, the time of year that more daylight returns to our lives. You might remember from your science classes, the equinox marks the sun rising due east, setting due west. We’ve always been taught equinox is equal day and equal night. Technically, we actually get a tad more daylight, due to the atmospheric refraction. The return of daylight is celebrated worldwide in many cultures. I was just reading about the equinox celebrations at the sun pyramids in both Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza, Mexico. The Holi Festival of love, color, and spring in India is right around this time as well. You probably have seen pictures of massive crowds enthusiastically throwing colorful powders around. Spring is a colorful time and it should be celebrated. Speaking of colorful, my apricot trees are blooming, and I saw a forsythia shrub blooming the other day. It is always a beautiful harbinger of spring, covered in bright yellow flowers - wait for it, that you can eat. I should note they are a little bitter raw, but you can make a lovely golden simple syrup for your pancakes out of them. Don’t forget forsythia blossoms are a reminder it is time to apply pre-emergent to help stop your unwanted weeds from germinating. Personally, I look for the organic ones that have a corn gluten base.
I also felt my heartbeat pick up a bit when I saw a few snowdrops blooming in a friend’s garden the other day. Snakeshead Fritillaria, ornamental alliums, and the flowers of other fall-planted bulbs are just around the corner. You can dig up and divide those bulbs and corms after the green leaves have started to turn brown in early summer. Be sure to add some fertilizer and compost to the new planting areas.
The full moon that happens on March 18 this year is sometimes called the Worm Moon for good reason. Earthworms are beginning to appear and not coincidentally singing robins as well. My favorite flock of turkey vultures will appear in the gigantic cottonwoods on Drumm Lane any day now. I read when they hang out in trees, wings spread in the sun, the proper term for them is a wake, a committee, a venue, or even a volt. You’ll start to see them kettling around the valley soon, rising high above the town in spiraling thermal updrafts.
There is still time to place your conservation sale orders. If you didn’t put Nanking Cherry on your list, go back and add it. Finish up your tree pruning if you haven’t already, and you might start pruning back perennials, shrubs, and grasses. Bird food is scarce this time of year, consider putting out some chow and clean water for your feathered friends. Above all, I encourage you to plan your own equinox celebration. We all need more to celebrate these days.
Jaime Sammons carries a pair of pruners in her glove box – just in case, and believes you can be a gardener even with a single plant container on your porch.
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