Early March in the Garden
Garden Journal — March 2026Snow still covers parts of the garden, though patches of green lawn are beginning to show where the ground has thawed.
Today is noticeably warmer, and early daffodils are beginning to emerge in the beds, the first real sign of spring in the garden.
Parsley & Petal
A few days ago, I tied up a few splayed branches of the pencil holly in the side bed. The lavender looks a little ragged after winter, but that’s not unusual this time of year.
Parsley & Petal
Parsley & Petal
The daffodils I planted in clumps years ago have begun to spread, small colonies now pushing up through the soil.
Here and there, the soil is disturbed where voles tunneled beneath the snow this winter.
Parsley & Petal
There are downed branches from the overstory trees scattered along the creek bed and across the lawn, the kind of winter debris that quietly reveals itself once the snow begins to recede.
Parsley & Petal
The small Stewartia we planted last fall appears to have made it through. Tiny buds are beginning to form along the branches, which is always a small relief after a new tree’s first winter.
Parsley & Petal
The hellebore, spring’s earliest bloom in my garden, is still intact, its four buds slowly reaching towards the sun. Reliably resistant to deer and rabbits, it has also managed to survive the winter’s toughest storm.
Parsley & Petal
Meanwhile, my sister down South says it’s already eighty degrees there, with redbuds and daffodils in full bloom.
The Northeast garden wakes slowly. But it always wakes.
The Seasonal Edit
The Seasonal Edit is a recurring garden checklist of what’s emerging, what can wait, and what deserves attention now. Practical tasks. Clear structure. Timed to the season as it unfolds.