SPRING HAS SPRUNG
By Trey Pitsenberger, co-owner Golden Gecko

With the interesting weather we are having people are wondering if this is spring, or just an illusion. Will it get cold again? Do you plant now or wait? Is ‘The Divide’ different than other foothill areas for gardening?

The answer to the first question is, yes it will get cold again. How cold? It’s any ones guess, but on average we can expect frost till May. We can also expect more rain, and possibly more snow. ‘It always snows on the dogwood blossoms’ is a saying that is often true. The dogwoods won’t be blooming for another month, so it may well snow again. Now, when we say it snows on the dogwood blossoms it may be a thundercloud that moves through, and with a little cooling flakes of snow fall, only to melt on contact with the ground. But it did snow on the blossoms, thus keeping the saying alive.

Should you plant now or wait depends on what you’re planting. Because frost is the enemy of the summer annuals you would be wise to hold of planting frost tender vegetables and flowers till May. Everyone sees tomatoes for sale in Auburn and Sacramento, and we would love to get the jump on eating our own fresh homegrown produce. Don’t do it. My experience is that tender summer plants, planted to early, never develop as well as those planted later. A tomato planted before May would have to completely avoid frost for the next month or so. The other reason not to plant to early is the ground is still cold from winter. The soil temperature needs to be higher for proper development, and that won’t occur till May. Here is a test. Sit on the ground, and when your bottom soil feels warm, its time to plant.

 There are vegetables that can tolerate cool spring weather, and they should be planted now. Strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, cabbage, kale, lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower are some of the plants that need cool spring weather to develop. You can also get the garden ready for planting by working organic matter into the ground, removing weeds, etc.

What you can plant now are the trees, shrubs, and hardy perennials that comprise the majority of our landscapes. These plants are not be harmed by the cooler weather that will return before May. This is actually a great time to plant since the ground is still soft from winter’s rains making it easy to dig. The weather is mild, helping to establish these plants before the onslaught of summer’s heat. There are even cool season flowers, like pansies and violas that bloom in the cool spring weather and won’t be harmed by cold.

Most of ‘The Divide’ sits in Zone 7 of ‘The Sunset Western Garden Book’. The further up into the mountains you go the more likely you will find yourself in Zone 1 or 2. Zone 1 a`nd 2 are the West's coldest regions, including Tahoe and Truckee. Auburn is actually in the warmer Zone 9, which has an earlier last date of frost. That’s why folks living in Auburn or The Valley can plant tender plants a few weeks earlier than we can.
Realize that your particular location has a lot to do with how cold it gets, and how late the cold can return. Those of us that live in ravines or valleys find that cold air settles down from the higher hills and can make a huge difference from our neighbor on the top of the hill. You will have to watch and see how your location, southwest facing, north east facing, high or low elevation affects your gardening.

Trey Pitsenberger is a Master Nursery Professional with over twenty-three years of horticultural experience. Trey and his wife Monica co-own The Golden Gecko Garden Center in Garden Valley. Trey can be reached at 530-333-2394.