March, however, taught me a different lesson. The pea seeds never survived the refrozen soil and foot of snow that was to follow. Lesson learned: in these parts, March belongs to winter and any planting to be done is done indoors. Opening day of the baseball season is now pea planting time for this gardener and then only when winter allows.

Without the benefit of cloche or cold fame, outdoor planting in March is usually fruitless. So, what is an anxious gardener in an acute state of cabin fever to do in March? Since fruit trees and ornamentals should be in a state of dormancy when any pruning is done, March is a good time for this chore. This is also a perfect time to thin the raspberries or other cane fruit. You're already wearing clothes that protect you from the brier and it gets you outdoors in the fresh air when you need it the most.

Another chore that is reserved for March in this garden is the cutting back of the spent stalks of all the perennials. Here there is a great deal of herbs and flowers like oregano, balm and phlox that must be cut back to ground level. To do this in the autumn when the stalks are still "green" requires hours bent over with shears. In March, when the stalks are dried and brittle and the ground is frozen, this gardener dons his size 14W work boots and "stomps" the stalks into mulch.

If you don't mind leaving spent flower stalks into the winter, this method will save you time and energy and there is something about the stomping that takes the edge off a case of spring fever