When is Spring?

[JillThePlantKiller]

Is there an agreed start to spring among gardeners, the way there is with meteorologists (1st March) or wiccans (Imbolg 1st Feb) and some people count the spring equinox as the start.

I’m trying to write out a calendar of garden tasks for my plants and it’s just occurred to me that I could be mis- interpreting advice to do this or that in “early spring” correctly.

March - early spring
April - mid spring
May - late spring

For gardeners (I am a gardener) it is generally accepted that this 3-month early, mid and late rhythm applies to all the seasons.

Thank you. That’s so helpful.

It all depends on your location.For example I travel from Kent to Cheshire in the "spring" by train, and can easily see the difference hour by hour.

Yes definitely March April May

@Ifailed good point.

@JillThePlantKiller It depends on what part of the UK you live in, your local microclimate and the weather that year. I gauge spring by my own random method, not by what it says on the calendar.

Early spring - winter flowering jasmine, snowdrops, catkins,
Mid spring - primroses, blackthorn, daffodils, camellia, cherry blossom
Late spring - tulips, cowslips, apple blossom, bluebells, honeysuckle
Early summer - roses and a whole heap of other stuff

But they all gradually merge from one to another so there is no definitive date I don't think. The only actual date I use is that you need to have pruned your roses by Valentine's Day.

The seasons in the UK are changing anyway - my rosemary comes into flower six weeks earlier than it used to. 40 years ago it was around new year, and it now starts flowering in mid November and goes all the way through to March. It gets some flowers in mid summer but its main flowering period is winter. Good for bees who have woken up too early.

Hawthorn is also called May blossom as it is supposed to flower in May. Round here all the hedges have been in flower for several weeks already.

Gardeners can't really follow dates as such, you have to rely on instinct.