ellen 
Whether you say crocuses or croci, they’re looking lovely in Chicagoland. They’re just plain cheerful. The beginning of our gardens! 
Today, I spent about five hours adding compost, outlining a new bed or two, and trying my hand at growing poppies again. I’ve not had any luck with poppy seeds. Fingers crossed this year. I also got my first lettuce seed in.
A good early spring checklist:
- If you haven’t already, trim back perennials that were left for winter interest. Don’t prune any spring flowering trees or shrubs. You may be cutting off the bloom buds.
- Stir up the compost bin and add to your beds and containers.
- Add extra potting soil to containers that need it.
- Mulch around trees.
- If you’ve got common orange day lilies coming out of your ears like I do, it’s easy to dig and thin them out now while they are still small.
- Divide perennials like ornamental grasses. For complete list, check out UM Extension site.
- Plant seeds that need/like the cold. The back of your seed packet will tell you when is the best time to plant. Right now, anything with 4 weeks or longer before last frost date can be planted here in Chicago. (I planted lettuce, poppies, gaillardia, and california pansy.)
- Inside, starts of tomatoes, basil, peppers should be underway.
