Now that there is no more fluffy white stuff on the ground, you may be thinking when is the best time to plant your garden?
Shea Doherty, the Operations Manager at Our Farm greenhouse, says that we are in gardening season meaning your perennials are slowly starting to wake up.
“I think that it’s probably warm enough now that we can remove the leaves and get that trimmed up and cleaned up. I wouldn’t do any cutting to the rose bushes or any shrubs or anything yet. The reason being, you don’t know where it has died back from the winter, and if you over cut, you’re actually giving away potential growth.”
Doherty also mentions that the best plants that thrive at this time of the year are actually pansies and violas.
“They bring a plethora of beautiful pinks and purples and yellows in early spring. So, that being said, you know you can go plant that because they can handle those lower temperatures and you get some vibrant color punched right out in spring.”
When the operations manager was asked about when we should be planting our usual gardens, he mentioned that with us being in Manitoba, it is a question-and-a-half.
“So, that being said, get to the greenhouses, get to the nurseries, get some of your plants for your baskets and your pots and get those potted up because you can bring them into your garage or into your front door so that they’re starting to grow. But the actual flower beds and vegetables I wouldn’t be planting until May long for sure this year, which is around the 25th, give or take of May.”
Doherty says that although you have to wait until the end of May, you can plant some produce like peas, lettuce and spinach by as early as next week.
He closes out by mentioning to always make sure to promote local shopping, noting that our nurseries really do put an effort into knowing the plants they’re growing.