It’s not fair: Winter has hung on three weeks too long, and the nurseries are tempting us with all those lovely dahlias and New Guinea impatiens. If the nursery is selling these flowers, it must be time to plant, so you bring home a flat and set them out the first time the thermometer hits 60 degrees F.
The problem with this approach is that the nursery was tending these tender tropicals in its greenhouse, and now you’ve slapped them into spring thaw mush. The plant never recovers from this shock to its system.
Solution: Contact your local county extension service to find out your average last frost date. If the plant marker says put out two weeks after last frost, follow this advice, weather anomalies be darned. For the earliest flowers stick to stalwarts like pansies and primroses.
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