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With spring exploding all around, how can I possibly be grumpy? The crabapples, serviceberry, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, fruit trees, bleeding heart, scillia, rhodendrons--all are in glorious bloom.
But frankly, I'd like to actually get outside and take them all in, up close and personal. It's been cold or wet--or both--the past several days and I'm pacing and looking out my window as agitated as a poodle watching the neighborhood cat.
I'm dying to get out there and really work in the yard. I want feel the sun on my face and remember what it's like to break a sweat. I want to spend my mornings on the back porch, reading the paper and listening to the birds chirp while I drink my coffee.
So hurry up already, warm weather. We're dying to greet you!
Coldly,
Veronica Lorson Fowler
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The Delight Of Daffodils
Gotta love these tough lovelies. They come back year after year (unlike tulips, which peter out after a few years) and the rabbits and deer leave them alone. Some types spread, depending on growing conditions. Others (like the delicate white 'Thalia' now on my kitchen table) are beautifully fragrant.
 They're so terrific I suggest you plant several different kinds in your garden (there are even pinkish and miniature types.) Now, while you can see the bulbs you have, is the time to make a note or little map on where to plant bulbs for next year.
Click here for some helpful tips in planting your next bulb planting!
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Get Out There And Plant
Some of our favorite annuals need to wait until after the last average frost date (May 10-15 or so, in Iowa) for planting outdoors. But there's lots to plant now. Peas, for example, should be planted when the lilac leaves "are as big as a mouse's ear," according to folk wisdom, and I agree! Other planting to do now:
* Plant seedlings of cool-season flowers, such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Plant seedlings of cool-season vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage.
* Plant seeds of cool-season vegetables, such as lettuces, spinach, greens, radishes, and more.
* Plant those herbs that like cool weather, including parsley and cilantro.
* You can also plant seedlings of perennial herbs, such as oregano, sage, and thyme, outdoors now.
Click here for a more complete list of what to plant when in your Iowa garden!
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D&#% Rabbits! 
I planted small cilantro and parsley plants and not more than 12 hours later, the rabbits had mowed them down to the ground.
The rabbits are awful this year. They've even taken to hopping up to my front door. Perhaps they think after they've ravaged my garden I'll let them in and offer them a snack from the fridge?
I've considered live trapping, but an ISU extension wildlife specialist informed me that in a rabbit-heavy area like mine (lots of vegetation near a big park), I'd just create a void that the nearby rabbits would quickly fill.
The only real way is to protect plants with barriers and low fences. Sigh.
Click here for some ideas on how to do this in a practical, effective, and not-ugly way.
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Monthly To-Do
 The last average frost date is almost here! It's May 10 for southern Iowa and May 15 for northern Iowa. That means you can plant anything outdoors now and not worry about it getting damaged by cold. So tuck in those tomato plants, peppers, basil, and other annual edibles and flowers after that date.
Plant gladiolus corms, canna rhizomes, and tuberous begonia tubers after danger of frost is well past and now that the soil is adequately warm.
Finish up planting of lettuces and spinach from seed.
You can continue to divide perennials that bloom in the summer or fall now, as needed or desired. Hold off on dividing those that bloom in late spring until either after they bloom or this fall.
Plant perennial edibles that like cool weather, such as rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, and asparagus.
Plant now herbs that like cool weather, including parsley, chives, and cilantro. Also plant any perennial herbs, such as tarragon, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.
Wait to plant warm-season annuals, such as marigolds, tomatoes, and petunias, until after the last average frost date in mid-May.
Wait to mulch until the ground warms up more, usually in late May or so.
Click here for a complete list of what to plant when this month and the rest of the year.
Wait to plant the seeds of corn, squash, cucumbers, and beans. They like warm soil. Plant these the last week of May in southern Iowa, the first week of June in northern.
Time to prune most large trees (not oaks), small trees, evergreens, and shrubs. You can also prune roses now.
However, do not prune any shrubs that will flower now through late summer. You'd trim off developing flowers.
Prevent diseases and insects on fruit trees by spraying with horticultural oil, also called dormant oil. Do so when there is little wind and temperatures are in the 40s.
How sharp is your mower blade? It should be sharpened 2 or 3 times a year or else grass top cuts will be ragged and lawns will take on a beige cast from the browning edges a couple days after mowing.
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Editor's Choice
Garden Events
Saturday, May 9
Discovery Park, Muscatine, Iowa
9:00 a.m.-noon. The Cedar Valley Iris and Daylily Society is having its annual spring sale. Perennials also. Wonderful selection of plants sure to do well in Iowa!
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Garden Quote
"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!"
- Mark Twain
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