The wild swings in temperature in March are not unusual and hardly a concern early in the spring. Yes, the warm, sunny afternoons are glorious, but freezing nights and some chilly days are expected in the weeks to come.

In the garden, the ups and downs aren’t a problem, in particular since the winter chill has delayed flowering of magnolias that often bloom the first week of March. Showing the faintest sign of swelling, the buds are well protected against cold that might ruin newly opened flowers.

Again, ‘February Gold’ daffodils will flower beginning in March (but not this week) with last year’s early bloom the exception when the garden was filled with color by the first of the month. A consequence of the delayed flowering is that the period of bloom for bulbs and hellebores will be shortened by warm temperatures that will soon accelerate their fading.

While some folks extol hellebores for holding flowers well into spring, I find them ornamental only until early April when the reproductive parts fade. Of course, this is the time when flowers must be removed on seed bearing hybrids to avoid many dozens of seedlings. I do not remove seeds, hoping to one day see interesting color variations from accidental crosses. On warm afternoons, bees are at work on these genetic wonders.