Spring is Tough for Gardeners

Spring is tough for gardeners in South Dakota. We get the twitch when temperatures get to the upper 70’s and think it could not possibly freeze now. But how wrong we are forgetting the last frost date is usually May 15^th.

I planted only three tomato plants and been covering them for 6 nights in a row. I finally gave up when they started to die back. The frost finally took them. The onions and cole crops are still doing fine. The calendulas and bachelor buttons are good but the four o’clocks and cosmos are history.

The good news I have learned, most perennials and shrubs growing are not harmed especially if you live in a town that is a little warmer at night. Leaf buds are tougher than the flower buds are why my lilac blooms just coming out are looking a little wilted.

The bad news is with the flower buds on fruit trees. If they have broken dormancy your fruit may be history this year. Shrubs that bloom on new year’s wood may have been hit.

If your new growth on roses have been damaged and are blacken and curled, prune down to a nondamaged section of the cane.

If your garden plants are blackened, do not try to bring back to life, replant, it is still early.