ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – The warm temperatures have many wanting to go full steam ahead into the spring season.
Although it’s a little early, there are things that can be done. With hopes that the worst of winter is done, business is blooming for local garden centers that have opened for the season.
“It’s a time of hope, so gardeners are very hopeful people,” said Jennifer Schamber, the general manager at Greenscape Gardens. “We’re kind of optimists no matter what. We know spring is coming.”
A steady stream of customers is evidence of the desire to get out in the garden.
“People walk in the door today, (and) it almost feels like we made it. we made it through another St. Louis winter,” Schamber said.
While it is still early and there’s no doubt some cold temperatures ahead, those can proceed with cool season annuals and crops with some caution, knowing they will need protection over the next month.
“Such as our pansies, our violas, our alyssum and our cool season crops like our lettuces, our cole crops. If the temperatures go much below 27 degrees, that’s about that scary number for new plants,” Schamber said.
If your ground isn’t frozen, trees and shrubs can go in the ground now.
“Get them a little bit of a head start. Everything is still very, very dormant. So we have no concerns about losing buds or anything like that because everything is sound asleep,” Schamber said.
Another option for planting is any native plants, which are also very tough and still mostly dormant right now.