The Southern gardener is really kept busy this month! Seeds of annuals and vegetables should be sown and perennials divided and transplanted. In some areas, March is the best time for starting a lawn. And, also, the battle against insects and diseases begins in earnest this month.
Protect Roses from Black Spot
In most sections of the South, black spot is the greatest single obstacle to growing good roses. If you can keep it down, there is little else to worry about.
Now that new growth has started, our battle against the disease must begin at once. If you are looking for an effective fungicide, try one of the newer preparations or go with old faithful captain.
Captan is recommended, not only for roses but for all garden plants in need of a good fungicide.
Last Minute Transplanting
There is yet time to transplant roses, shrubs, and small trees, but in the Deep South handle these items carefully: plant well and water adequately.
For late plantings, the application of root-promoting chemicals will help wonderfully in overcoming the shock of being moved. Watering newly moved plants with a weak solution of liquid plant food will also help stimulate new root growth.
Fertilizing Shrubs and Trees
In the South late winter and early spring is definitely the best time to feed trees and evergreen and deciduous shrubs. If you failed to get this work done in February, be sure to go right ahead and finish it as soon as practical.
Plenty of food will go a long way in keeping your shrubs and trees in a healthy, growing condition, and will make them less susceptible to attacks by both insects and diseases.
Azaleas and camellias should be fertilized just after the main crop of flowers has faded. At this time the plants will be able to utilize the plant food for the great spurt of spring growth.
The specially-prepared Azalea fertilizers are excellent, or you can make a very satisfactory fertilizer for these plants by mixing in equal proportions of cottonseed meal and a high-grade garden fertilizer.
Care of Dahlia Tubers
Check your dahlia tubers. If they are beginning to sprout it’s time to separate and plant them. If the tubers were left in the ground for the winter., you better dig and replant them right away.
In dividing the clumps handle carefully so as not to break off the new sprouts. From tubers planted this month, you will get good flowers through late spring and early summer. For the best fall flowers hold the tubers in cool storage for June planting.
Lawn-Making in the Mid-South
While fall is the best season for seeding permanent lawns in the Upper South, spring is lawn-making time in the Mid-South and along the Gulf Coast.
Planted now during the rainy season, they will get off to a good start before the dry weather gets here. Zoysia and St. Augustine are both good grasses for full shade, and both will also do well in sun. Centipede is good for full sun or medium shade.
Annuals and Perennials
Many of the annuals may be planted outdoors this month in the area of the Gulf Coast and in the Central South. Farther north you’ll probably want to wait until April to plant the tender ones.
You may also plant gladiolus, Agapanthus (lily of the Nile), Ornithogalum, Gloriosa, Crinum, Japanese and Louisiana iris, Montbretia, Tigridia and, of course, Zephyranthes.
In the South daylilies may be planted any day in the year, but next to the early fall months, late February and March is the best time.
Planted now they take hold immediately and should give good bloom the first season. Early-flowering varieties may be transplanted even though they are already blooming.
Many of the perennials may be separated and replanted this month, including the various forms of perennial phlox, physostegia, ageratum, daisies and any others that have started growth.
Spray Insects Early
Insect eggs that have been dormant during the winter will be hatching this month. The youngsters are much more easily killed by insecticides than the adults, so try to get them before, they grow old.
They will soon be starting families of their own unless they are destroyed. One insect killed now will save having to kill hundreds later in the season.
Springtime Care of Water Pools
The goldfish will be spawning this month, so you’d better clean your pools right away before the young fish make their appearance. At the time of cleaning the pool, re-pot hardy water-lilies and other aquatics.
Tropical lilies should not be planted until the weather gets warmer—mid-April is a good time in most areas. If planted too early, the tropical species will rot instead of starting growth.
Chrysanthemums in the South
While chrysanthemums are among our oldest flowers, at no period have they been especially popular in the South. Grown from the days of the earliest settlers, the small-flowered types called “pinks” were found in every old garden.
They were taken for granted and while everyone grew them no one grew enthusiastic about them. Just during the last 30 years have we come to understand how easily the huge “football” types can be grown outdoors, and what wonderfully colorful gardens can be built around the small-flowered kinds.
For effective masses of color the chrysanthemums closely rival the azaleas and the flowers, which last two or three times as long as azaleas, come at a season when there is not much else in bloom. Another advantage is that they stand considerable cold.
Last fall the temperature fell to 20° degrees Fahrenheit and below in the Central South. As late as the middle of December one could see great, colorful masses of chrysanthemums, apparently untouched by the frost.
It is now time to begin thinking about your chrysanthemum crop for this year, but do not be in a big hurry to get the cuttings out. While many people do it, you are taking a great risk in trying to grow chrysanthemums from divisions of the old clumps.
If there is any disease present (and chrysanthemums are susceptible to several that are difficult to control) there is usually evidence of it in the roots.
When you use divisions of the old clumps you carry a bit of the disease along and it may plague you all through the year.
Another considerable risk one runs in using root divisions is that of termite infestation. Dead or decaying roots make a congenial home for these devastating pests.
Last fall we lost many of our finest plants due to termite-infested plants grown from divisions given us by friends. No plants grown from freshly rooted cuttings were attacked.
When the new sprouts are up 3” or 4” inches, clip them off and root in sand or sand-peat moss mixture. They will usually root in two or three weeks.
New growth will sprout from the clumps after the first cuttings are taken and still more cuttings will be available in a few weeks.
Many growers in the South have discovered that they have been setting out their chrysanthemum cuttings too early in the season. The exhibition types planted in March, kept well fed and watered, may reach a height of 8’ or 9’ feet (I saw some that high last fall) by the time the flowers open, thus making it difficult to give protection from frost and other cultural attention.
Cuttings set out in late May or early June will not grow more than about half as high and will give just as good flowers, blooming at approximately the same time as when planted in March.
If you have early-planted exhibition types that seem to be growing too tall, clip them back in May. The tops may be easily rooted for additional plants if you need them.