Every year about this time in the North Valley the big spring bloom begins. And every year I think – it’s even more miraculous – even more lovely this year. Narcissus, hellebores, daphnes, camellias, magnolias, the first of the fruit trees – the beauty is abundant. And now that we’ve had some real rain and snow, I can actually enjoy the bloom with less worry. Close to 11 inches of rain – that’s how much rain I measured in my home garden in the month of February. The rain was so inspiring to me that some days I had to go check my rain gauge 2 or 3 times. I then ran inside, reported the newest numbers to my family and rushed to record the numbers in my journal. I know one good month of rain and snow will not reverse the past seasons’ unusually low precipitation. I know we are still in a drought – but this one good month sure doesn’t hurt. And when the March mountains are decked with snow and the valley is greening and damp, life in my garden feels just right. Photo: White Hellebores.
Although the first official day of spring is March 20 – hurray! – average last frost dates are still a ways away for most of us (early April for the earliest of us) so don’t get too excited too quickly. Now is a great time for continuing to sow cold hardy vegetable seeds or planting out cold hardy perennials and shrubs to begin establishing before true spring. Now is also the time for feeding a balanced fertilizer to your trees, shrubs and lawns that are starting to show signs of growth. March 1st is a traditional date on which to feed citrus trees. And don’t forget that March 8th, we spring our clocks forward one hour. Photo: Looking across snow covered mountains from Mt. Shasta in mid- February.
The rainy days have allowed for quality garden reading. I have just finished a fabulous new garden design book entitled Plant-Driven Design. Published in 2008 by Timber Press, Plant-Driven Design is written by a dynamic gardening couple, Lauren Springer Ogden and Scott Ogden. Both are well known in the gardening world for their design work and previous gardening titles. He wrote Garden Bulbs for the South (Timber Press, 2nd Ed 2007) among others, she wrote The Undaunted Garden (Fulcrum Press, Paberback Edition, 2000), among others. Plant-Driven Design is a treatise on the importance of putting plants and their strengths and requirements first when designing an ornamental garden, rather than treating a garden as a paint-by-numbers endeavor. The book is slightly self-righteous at the outset – but unnecessarily so. However, it quickly hits its stride and the discussion of different horticultural challenges and plants that can meet them, the sharp photographs and the fact-filled sidebars on everything from “Bamboo” to “Big and Bold Leaved Plants” transcends political design issues and make this book a plant nerd’s dream. As a bonus, the fact that the Ogdens garden in the extreme environments of Colorado’s front Range AND Texas Hill Country 
means that a great many of the plants they love and highlight will be solid choices in the North State Garden. The book’s subtitle: creating gardens that honor plants, place and spirit gives you a good sense of the book’s noble and ambitious range. Photo: Raindrops on glistening Japanese Maple branches.
March is a great time to be planning your garden design goals for the year. Some great gardening events in our region in March will help you get started on just that. The world-class San Francisco Flower & Garden Show runs from March 18 through 22 at the San Mateo Events Center. If you have never been to a large flower and garden show, I have to tell you, there is nothing quite like it for great garden BLING. Closer to home, but just as inspiring, the Soroptimists Annual Home & Garden Show in Chico will feature plenty of excellent gardening workshops and forums. It runs March 21 and 22. In Redding, the monthly walk around the McConnell Arboretum and Gardens with Horticulture Director Lisa Endicott ought to prove particularly stunning, and in Red Bluff, on the 31st, the Red Bluff Garden Club’s monthly program will feature Soil Amendments and Organic Fertilizers with Brett Kinney ought to be particularly informative. For more details on many more North State gardening events click here. Photo: Spring tree blossoms lighting up an old orchard in Paradise. 
In a North State Garden is an educational outreach program of the Northern California Natural History Museum and a co-production of North State Public Radio. The program is conceived, written, hosted and photographed by Jennifer Jewell, Executive Producer – all rights reserved. To listen to podcasts of past segments, click here.
