What’s Growing on in the Garden: March 2025

Spring has officially arrived! March 20^th signaled the end of winter and the beginning of spring, on the calendar at least. I am ready for the season change, and I have been seeing signs that Mother Nature, too, is ready for spring as buds swell and plants emerge from the soil. It’s been four months since I last shared an update on what’s growing in our gardens. During that time, I have kept busy while the snow covered our beds, planning our 2025 season and sowing the first seeds indoors. And now, with spring on our doorstep, it is time once again to start our monthly posts with a recap of what’s growing on in the garden. Huzzah!

While spring has just sprung, our 2025 growing season began months ago. I spent weeks meticulously planning our bed layout, working on our seed starting schedule, checking on stored dahlia tubers, and attending to a multitude of administrative tasks. I find these tasks enjoyable, as they help me dream of the season to come even when there’s still snow on the ground. Homemade soup and freshly baked bread, straight from the oven, certainly helped keep me up to the task. If you didn’t already know, cooking and baking are also among my passions.

I didn’t have to wait long between the end of caring for plants outdoors and the beginning of caring for them indoors. In January, I started my first flowers of the season by pre-sprouting our ranunculus. The corms sprouted in our unheated basement and grew under grow lights for several weeks in the same unheated space. The seedlings were then hardened off, acclimating them to outdoor living, before being planted into our low tunnels in early March. It has become a daily routine to uncover and cover these plants each day with the fluctuating temperatures of late winter and early spring. There is a fine line between too hot and too cold for these young ranunculus plants, and therefore, consistent monitoring is essential. Luckily, despite some single-digit nights, they seem to be doing beautifully and hopefully are growing strong roots for abundant blooms in a few short months.

In February, I started our sweet pea seeds indoors. I’m growing triple the number of seedlings this year, and I’m looking forward to a bounty of gorgeous, fragrant blooms. The seedlings grew alongside our ranunculus indoors in our unheated space and did beautifully. Once they were tall enough, I pinched (or trimmed) the plants, which encourages the sweet pea plants to branch and grow more flowers. This year, I’m experimenting with rooting the cuttings to make more seedlings. Once hardened off, the sweet pea seedlings also made their way to their permanent place in the garden, where they were planted out alongside a trellis for them to climb throughout the season.

Other seeds, such as snapdragons and stock, were also started indoors, as they too enjoy establishing in cooler temperatures. Between sowing seeds and tending to newly planted seedlings, I also cared for our Iceland poppy seedlings, which were transplanted in October. Despite our harshest winter in years, they flourished in our low tunnel and have nearly tripled in size over the winter months. And, just a few days ago, I noticed the first buds forming. I can’t wait to have fresh poppies on the farm again!

As I take my daily stroll around the farm each morning, I have noticed many signs of spring. The peonies and garlic are pushing their way up through the soil, and the field-grown tulips and daffodils have also made an appearance. With our harsh winter, they are over two weeks behind last year’s crop. But it seems whenever I have a plan, Mother Nature laughs and reminds me who is really in charge around here. Regardless of the delay, I am overjoyed to see them unfurling their leaves and reaching for the sky once again. I can’t wait to harvest and share the thousands of stems of specialty tulips and fragrant narcissus to come. These are some of my favorite cut flowers that we grow, and I look forward to seeing them bloom on the farm within the next few weeks.

During all the hustle and bustle of seed starting, transplanting, and seedling care, I almost missed the first flowers of the season blooming on the farm. Our hellebores opened this week, and they were such a welcome sight. I planted several varieties last season as a trial, and I look forward to experimenting with harvesting techniques to ensure vase life this season. I’m already quite smitten with these beautiful, early-blooming flowers, and I sense that more varieties will be joining our trial by the end of the season.

As we approach April, I know the farm tasks will quickly ramp up, and we will enter the busiest time of the growing season. Many more seeds will need to be sown, and seedlings will require tending and transplanting, all while harvesting the first flowers of the year. But, despite the hectic pace that spring brings, I am overjoyed that I will soon be surrounded by fresh flowers again. While I welcomed the rest that winter afforded, I missed the flowers so. I’ve come to need them in my life, much as I need food, water, or air. Flowers, too, sustain me. 

The months of the growing season always fly by, and before I know it, I will be sharing what’s growing on in April. Between now and then, there will be many blooms to enjoy here on the farm and in your gardens as well. I hope you, too, are looking forward to all the abundance that spring brings and that you enjoy every moment of it! That’s what’s been growing on in our garden; what’s been growing on in yours?