Memorial Day: Time to Plant!

The wisdom around Southwest Montana is not to plant outdoors until Memorial Day. Well, our veterans’ holiday is early this year, and the likelihood of another snow or frost gives one pause, especially if you’ve been fooled before. And we have!

Our first summer in Montana, a big, wet, heavy snowfall hit on June 10, bringing down branches and powerlines across town. You’d think that would have taught us, but no, fooled by sun and warm temperatures in May, we’ve planted—and paid.

Today’s weather is about what Andra and I experienced during a getaway to Grand Junction, Colorado, in late April-early May: shortsleeves, the trees budding, and the early spring flowers in bloom. There’s no denying it: even within our five-state area of coverage, bloom dates vary by a month and more. But as Dr. Bob keeps reminding us, there are other factors affecting Rocky Mountain gardeners that are just as important as average minimum temperatures: cool nights, clay soil, high altitude, wind, hail…you know the deal.

Yesterday I visited Doug Badenoch, who owns the Wine Gallery here in Bozeman, and who writes our reviews of locally produced wines. We talked about when it’s safe to plant outdoors. Doug said, “My brother is an avid gardener, and he told me: ‘Never plant until after the snow melts on Mt. Baldy.” Looking up at the nearby Bridger Mountains, we could see snow on Baldy’s ridge. The message: be patient. Memorial Day may come and go, and it may hit 80°F, but I’m waiting until the mountain is all brown.

Tomato Tip

Master gardener John Austin stopped by our table at the Bozeman Home & Garden Show to present us with a “magazine warming” gift—a 7-week-old ‘Early Annie’ tomato plant. He told us the plant had been cold stressed. Asked to explain he said he started the seedling with 16 hours of light daily, from a small 100-watt fluorescent bulb positioned 2-3 inches above. Then after 3 weeks—just when the first true leaves started to appear—he reduced light to just 12 hours a day. He maintained temperatures at about 55°F at night and 65° during the day. After another 3 weeks he returned to the 16-hour-per-day regimen. The result: edible fruit 2-3 weeks earlier than if he had not cold stressed the plant. And that, he says, is why he always has tomatoes by the Fourth of July…much to many people’s amazement. In Southwest Montana, he starts tomatoes around April 1, transplants around June 1, and begins eating the fruit of his labors on Independence Day.