Gardening with Sam: Let countdown to spring begin

Bulbs are planted, and we need a good freeze, so I call it. We need the plants to go to sleep and wake up and start the growing process, to peep out of the ground at the first sight of warm days in early spring.  All we have to do now is be sure we have the tender plants ready for winter and get our mulch on the ground.

Flower festivals will start in early March. If you’re interested in a little road trip, mark these on your calendar:

• Camellia Walks at Middleton Place Charleston, S.C. are held in mid-February to March. Camellias that are centuries-old will be blooming in winter at Middleton Place, a National Historical Landmark and the oldest landscaped garden in the United States. Thousands of individual plants represent more than 1000 cultivars.
• The International Cherry Blossom Festival will be held in Macon, Ga., March 16-25. Yoshino cherry trees in Macon, Ga., have humble beginnings: a local businessman discovered one growing in his backyard in 1949 and shared cuttings with his neighbors. Now there are more than 300,000 in the town and countryside.
• The National Cherry Festival in Washington, D.C., will be March 20 through April 15. In 1912 the Japanese people gave the U.S more than 300 cherry trees. The festival started in 1935. It now spans four weekends and attracts more than 1.5 million visitors a year.
• At the Lighted Dogwood Trail Paducah, Ky., early spring dogwoods brighten the Kentucky landscape with their four-petal flowers. Walk, drive or bike past historic Paducah homes along a 12-mile trail lined with dogwoods and other flowering trees.
• The Tulip Time Festival in Holland, Mich., is held May 5-13. Nowhere in North America can you see more tulips in one place than Holland, Mich., where nearly 5 million Dutch favorites burst forth in a riot of color.

Next week I will share several additional festivals for us to look forward to. In the meantime, enjoy your blooms.