Odd winter turns to spring

This has been a confusing but rewarding year for gardeners along the Orange County coast.

January and February were warm and dry ? a false spring. March and April were unusually cool and damp, with the average daily temperatures more than four degrees below normal. Surprisingly, March was the coldest month of the winter season, colder than December, January or February. March colder than January? Yes, and that’s very unusual.

From the perspective of the plants in our gardens, these cool, damp spring days have created a colorful and long-lasting display of flowers, albeit slightly later than usual. Over the next few weeks, we will continue to see our heaviest bloom of the year, especially from local favorites like geraniums, fuchsias, delphiniums, azaleas, clematis and sweet peas. Roses are especially magnificent this spring, holding the colors of their flowers and opening slowly in the cool weather.

May’s warmer soils and longer days make this one of the best times to add many plants to your garden, especially those from subtropical climates. Citrus, avocados and gardenias would have done poorly planted a couple of months ago, but they’ll root quickly in May’s warmer soil.

Likewise, warm season flowers like impatiens, begonias, zinnias, lobelia, verbena, ageratum, coleus and lisianthus would have been a risk just a month or two ago, but they’re a sure bet now.

Garden success also depends on knowing what not to plant at various seasons. When shopping at garden centers this month, don’t be tempted by cool-season specialties such as pansies, violas, primrose, cyclamen, Iceland poppies, stock or snapdragons. This is also a poor time to plant most of California’s native plant species. There’s a time for every plant, and in California, natives are best added to our landscapes during October, November or December.

In the edible garden, it’s time to give up on any lingering cool-season delicacies. Vegetables like lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and peas should be cleared to make way for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, melons, corn and maybe even pumpkins. In the herb garden, be sure to set in plenty of warm-season growers like basil, tarragon and summer savory.

Speaking of basil, most of us know that the season for this popular herb ends about October. Try as we might, it’s just too cool for basil to survive through the cool winter months. But there is an exception. I am particularly excited about a variety called green pepper basil (Ocimum selloi). I originally obtained this rare basil from a friend and horticulture expert in southern Oregon.

I’ve grown green pepper basil for three years now, and I cannot recommend it enough. It not only grows right through the winter with hardly a hiccup, but it is a stunningly beautiful plant as well, producing abundant small lavender flowers through most of the year.

Like April, May is a month to feed the entire garden. Almost everything is growing and flowering. Tiny capillary roots are rapidly removing nutrients from the soil and pulling them up the roots and through the stems to the green leaves. Once there, the most important single process anywhere on earth takes place: photosynthesis. These nutrients combine with carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to produce energy for the plant and oxygen for the rest of us.

Use a high-quality, well-balanced fertilizer. Just yesterday I spread 25 pounds of mild organic fertilizer on my own garden. One more bag for the rest of the garden, a fresh-top dressing of organic mulch on the soil surface and I’m set for at least the next couple of months.

Don’t fret too much about the aphids you’ll see. Just hose them off with a blast of water from the hose. Snails and slugs, however, will cause general havoc if not controlled. Hand picking works well but isn’t for everyone. If you need to bait, use a safe and environmentally friendly organic product. Avoid the popular baits that are especially toxic to children, animals and soil microorganisms.

Roses are in bloom, lavender perfumes the air, hummingbirds sip the sweet nectar, and warm sunshine nourishes it all. Spring is finally here.