…As I strolled through the Farmer’s Market this morning and watched people in a near-frenzy of tender plant buying, I was reminded of why I chose the title that I did for my most recent gardening article, which appeared in the Rocky Mountain News on April 17: Beware of frost till mid-May. Even I, who religiously plant my tomatoes and peppers in Wall-o-Waters each spring, am only planning to get them out today and plant in them next week. Sure, I’ve done it earlier in past years but something about our recent freak snowstorms after 80 degree days has made me cautious.
Sure, get out and enjoy the warm weather. Even plant some lettuces and some hardy perennials. But keep the tomatoes, petunias, marigolds, and other tender plants indoors where belong for at least another week or so. I know it’s hard to wait (trust me!), but it’s better than the heartbreak of replanting after the next freak storm. Oh yes, there will be at least one more, and it may, as it has in other years, bring not just snow, but hail, freezing rain, or damaging winds….Beware the Ides of May (at least, that’s what they should have said, had they known about May in Colorado).
