Carolina Gardening: What's blooming in March, 1 by TomH3787

TomH3787 wrote:
bordersandjacks - you're right about not mowing the clover, it does provide good early-season food for the bees. I intentionally sowed clover seed in my lawn when I first bought my house. It filled in the areas where the grass was not growing well and enriched the soil (plus, it looks a lot better than bare dirt or weeds). As the soil improved, the grass was able to replace most of the clover and now the clover remains only few small places. I've found the clover takes over when the grass is badly stressed but then gives way to the grass once conditions improve. I don't use "weed and feed" on my lawn and I just spot-spray for especially obnoxious weeds or just dig or pull them directly. This strategy works because now I actually have some topsoil developing and I find worms in my lawn, instead of the baked clay subsoil with half-dead grass that was here before.

Now for some more pictures from today... first is Lilac 'Blue Skies', just starting to bloom. Last spring it flowered very heavily but this year is seems to be taking a break and there are not as many flowers, but it's still pretty. Great fragrance too.