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Purchase tuberous begonias, dahlia and canna lily bulbs and start them indoors. The begonias will root best in a seeding tray full of damp peat moss on the top of your fridge, where the low ambient heat that comes up the back of it will kick-start your begonia tubers into putting down roots. The canna lily bulbs are best started directly in one-gallon pots in a sunny window.
Branches of spring-flowering trees and shrubs can be cut and forced into bloom indoors. Wait for the flower buds to begin swelling and then harvest the branches with a pair of sharp pruners. Choose branches at random from all parts of the plant to maintain the natural shape. As soon as the branches are cut they should be placed in water. Treat branches like any cut flower and keep the vase full of clean water. Keep branches away from hot air vents and heat sources to prolong the life of the blooms. A short list of branches that are easy to force indoors includes: Forsythia, Camellia, Redbud, Dogwood, Flowering Cherry, Crabapple, Witch Hazel and Pussy Willow.
Buy garden seeds or look in your area to find out about Seedy Saturdays and Seed Exchanges, which are a great way to find heritage varieties and meet local growers. If you're going to buy your seed from a seed company or retailer, it's still early enough to get a broad selection.
March is the month to get sowing. Get a head start: plant your vegetable seeds and slow-germinating flowers seeds indoors now. Seed orders are arriving in the mail and the seed racks at the garden centres are filled with a great selection. Don't forget about the seeds you collected from your garden last year.
When the snow has melted, cut back the standing perennials in your yard (the ones that we told you last fall to leave alone): monarda, rudbeckia, Shasta daisies and the like. Most of them break off at the base and are easy to clean up, if you have a strong back.
It's time to prune apple trees, thinning out old, thick branches and dead wood to open up the tree for spring.
Before the end of the month, you can begin starting your cooler season crops such as onion, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower and kale which are okay to transplant up to a month before last frost. It helps to protect them with a row cover. Starting seeds in March is a good opportunity to lengthen your growing season.
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