If you’re anything like me, these unseasonably warm March days have turned my thoughts to gardening. Some of my perennials have even started peaking their new heads out of the ground about a month earlier than they did last year! Spring is on everyone’s mind but does that mean that now is the time to rush out and get the garden started?

The USDA updated their plant hardiness map in November 2023 for the first time in 11 years. You can find it here. For us here in Northwestern Iowa, Southeastern South Dakota and Northeast Nebraska, we are in zones 4b-5b and that means frosty temperatures are still possible through the end of April and into May. As I head into my fourth season of managing the Akron greenhouse, I can attest that every year there has been a night with freezing or close to freezing temperatures AFTER our first greenhouse plants arrive in mid-April. So don’t let these warm temperatures lull you into a false sense of security. It’s best to wait at least another 4-6 weeks to start planting outside.

If your green thumb is still itching to go, though, now is a great time to get some plants started inside, particularly for your vegetable garden. Seeds that you can start indoors right now include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and kohlrabi. These vegetables are hardy and can be the first to be planted outside in about 4-6 weeks. I also like to start peppers of all varieties in March as they tend to take longer to grow and produce fruit. Some pepper plants do start to grow fruit when they are still young plants. If you notice your plant doing this, it’s a good idea to pick off those first few little peppers so that the plant can direct its energy towards growing bigger instead of directing it to the fruit. Tomatoes are another good one to start early inside, as some varieties also have a long growing season.

You can start vining plants inside as well, including cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, autumn squash varieties, and watermelon, but I would wait until April to start those inside, as they can quickly take over your inside growing space. Speaking of vining plants, now is a good time to ask yourself, “To trellis or not to trellis?” Cucumbers, zucchini, and summer squash can do well either way. I’ve had great success with training them to grow up a large vegetable cage or fence and also just letting them do their thing on the ground. It largely comes down to personal preference and space. If you are trying to maximize your garden space, trellising may be the way to go. Cucumbers, watermelon, and pumpkins also do well just sowing the seed directly into the ground.

Other vegetables that can be sown directly into the ground are all varieties of leafy green vegetables – lettuce, collards, kale, chard, and arugula to name a few – radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, corn, herbs like dill, cilantro, and parsley, and green beans. With green beans, pay attention to whether the seed packet says bush beans or pole beans. Pole beans will need a stake or trellis of some kind to grow up along. Bush beans grow into bushy little plants and do not need any special staking.

You can find everything you’ll need to get your garden started inside or out at Akron Lumber and Crofton Lumber, from seeds and planting trays, to tomato cages, fertilizer, chicken wire and fence posts, planting spades and pruning shears. Our first plants of the season arrive to Akron on April 19 and we’ll have some over to Crofton the week of April 22. You can expect a good selection of vegetables, hanging baskets, and colorful annuals like petunias, zinnias, and dahlias in April.

Our perennials arrive on May 3 to Akron and the week of May 6 to Crofton. I’m bringing in plenty of classics like rudbeckia, columbine, salvia, coneflower, phlox, and daisies, as well as some varieties we haven’t carried before including astilbe, butterfly bush, and ajuga. We’ll have hostas and peonies this year (I know they were missed last year!), miniature rose bushes, several varieties of clematis, and perennial grasses. Perennials regrow year after year and there will be lots of options for adding depth, colors, and layers to your garden that you can enjoy this summer and for many summers to come.

We’ll get our final shipment of plants just before Mother’s Day, so be sure to pick up a hanging basket or porch planter for Mom! If you have any gardening questions or plants that you’d like to see available at the greenhouse, I’d love to hear from you! You can email me at robin.alm@mdhlumber.com or call me at the Akron store at 712-568-2801.

Happy Planting!

-Robin

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