Happy New Year, Gardeners!
January? Shmanuary! March is the real new beginning for us cold zone gardeners. Here at The Middle Garden, we’re in Chicago (brrrr).
There are many things gardeners are supposed to do and say. For example, we’re supposed to wait a year before planting in a new space (never do). We’re also supposed to say that winter is for planning, resting, and recovering.
But I’m quite sure that’s just a desperate explanation for the lack of satisfying activities in a cold winter garden. If winter were a plant, it would be a weed. Sure, planning has its merits, just as many weeds do. It’s not unexciting to figure out projects for the upcoming year, or order seeds, or stratify certain seeds. But then we’re left with… just waiting, I guess.
But y’all, when March arrives and the flurry of gardening activities smacks us across the face, everything is right in our little garden world again. Action can start; and it's time-sensitive! We’re 6-8 weeks ahead of the last frost, so tons of seeds need sowing.
Depending on the gardener, this might mean cleaning out raised beds and amending soil or tidying up the greenhouse and setting up an indoor growing situation.
For me, it definitely means finding a secluded spot surrounded by potting soil, seed trays, plant labels, and a dulcet background duet of an Agatha Christie audiobook and cheerful birdsong.
And y’all, that feels so good.
April
April brings even more activities; it’s like a March Part II, but with more physical labor (cleaning, mulching, sowing more seeds). Our efforts start to pay off as we see more shoots and blooms. The ratio of brown to green is evening out.
However, there’s still a lingering risk of winter’s invasion. We’re not completely out of the winter weeds yet. Still, the gardening activities are immensely gratifying. We know that all the hard work we just put in is the foundation for everything enjoyable in the garden. And the best is yet to come!
May
May brings the last threat of frost. For those of us in Chicagoland, Mother’s Day is the “safe” weekend to start planting. Garden centers feel like restaurants on Valentine’s Day. Beginner and casual gardeners are eager to get their hands dirty. Meanwhile, more serious gardeners (don’t look under our fingernails!) have been hardening off seedlings and preparing to plant them out.
June
June brings the first full flush of lush. And damn, does it feel fresh! This is the month I wish could stretch out for years (bitterly looking at you, January). I want time to freeze. I want to investigate every “buzz,” smell every flower, and see how long I can camouflage myself in the blooms.
July and August
July is all about maintenance and enjoyment. Sounds simple, right? It can be if you let it. Remember the best that was yet to come? It’s here.
August is maintenance, enjoyment, and the beginning of the main harvest season. Let’s savor the fruits of our labor!
September
As September rolls in, it starts to hint at closing up the garden for winter. It brings the first day of fall, which feels like a Sunday, full of scaries. I try to enjoy it because, as a season, what’s not to love? But, positioned at the eve of winter, it can feel like an omen.
October
October? It’s time to get busy, y’all! We’re lifting dahlias, planting spring bulbs, raking leaves into beds, and shredding the rest for leaf mold. We resist the urge to tidy up too much because we want a hefty twinkle of fireflies next year (I’m not sure what the collective noun for fireflies is, but a “twinkle” sounds just right). As the last warm days fade before hibernation, we savor the remaining flowers and start bringing blankets to the evening firepit.
November to February
November through February? Uuuuuuuuuugggghhhh. If this were a Hallmark movie, we’d be at the part after the rural Lumberjack professed his love to City Gal. Even though she feels the same way, she can’t imagine a life un-urban. So they split up. Lumberjack whittles a wooden version of City Gal, while she sees him in every piece of wood furniture she encounters.
As City Gal stares forlornly at the burning logs in her fireplace, she suddenly realizes she can no longer let her future smolder into wood ash. Without Lumberjack, she’s just a tree. But with him, she can be pieced together like Ikea furniture… or something. We may have switched genres there, that last bit sounded more murdery, but you get the idea.
Eventually, we emerge from the winter haze. At some point in February, anticipation begins to build. It’s the scene right before the couple reunites. Since it’s a Hallmark movie, it’s in an airport; everyone’s hair is perfect, no one has ketchup on their pants, and when City Gal drops her luggage to run into Lumberjack’s arms, no one tries to steal it.
That’s us running into March. Here’s to another Happy New Year!