What to plant in March: zone 3a
A rule-of-thumb starting point for zone 3a: last spring frost around May 30, first fall frost around September 10. Zones are set by winter lows, not frost dates, so two gardens in the same zone can be weeks apart. Measure your ZIP below for dates from your area's own 30-year record.
Start indoors
- Sow microgreens indoorsaround Mar 7
A tray on the windowsill gives you a cut of fresh greens every 10-14 days through the cold months.
- Start onions and leeks indoors2 sowings: Mar 21 and Mar 21
Alliums need 10-12 weeks under lights before they go out. The earliest sowing of the year. Sowing again a few weeks later keeps the harvest coming instead of arriving all at once.
- Leekaround Mar 21
10 weeks of indoor growth before your last frost (05-30). Plant seedlings deep in a 6 in trench and hill soil up the stem twice during the season. That buried length is the tender white shaft you're growing for.
Direct sow
- Rutabagaaround Mar 7
Soil is ready 12 weeks before last frost.
Dormant care
- Prune dormant fruit treesaround Mar 14
Prune apples, pears and peaches while fully dormant. Open the center, remove crossing wood.
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