March 7-13, 2011
The yellow crocus through the grass will bring
Her light as pointed as a candle flame,
Not there at sunrise, but at midday there.
And snowdrops that increase each year,
Each leaf so tipped with white
As thought it too desired to bear a flower.
-Vita Sackville-West

Lunar phase and lore
The Pussy Willow Moon, new on March 4, waxes throughout the period, entering its second quarter at 6:45 p.m. March 12. Leaving Aries and entering Taurus on March 8, the moon passes into Gemini next Friday, Cancer on Sunday and Leo on Tuesday.

Rising in the morning and setting in the middle of the night, the moon will be overhead during the afternoon, making that time the best lunar time for fishing (but the worst time for dieting), especially as the cold fronts of March 9 and14 approach.

Planting of all hardy vegetables in flats or directly in the ground is favored by the moon this week, especially in Taurus and Cancer. Trees and shrubs favor Taurus; cabbages, kale and broccoli may prefer Cancer.

Deep winter’s Orion has moved off to the west by 10 p.m., and Corvus, May’s corn and soybean planting constellation, appears on the horizon. Spica, which will be centered in the southern sky as peak planting ends this spring, emerges from the east. June’s Corona Borealis follows it.

Before dawn, all the constellations that ride the Milky Way into summer lie in the east. To the far north, Cassiopeia zigzags towards Cepheus, the house-shaped constellation just east of the North Star.

Following the Milky Way to the south, find Cygnus, the Northern Cross, above you. Below Cygnus is Aquila, with its brightest star, Altair. Below Altair is summer’s Sagittarius.

Daylight Saving Time begins
A typical March temperature distribution for the area includes up to two days in the 70s, five days in the 60s, six days in the 50s, nine days in the 40s, eight days in the 30s and one day in the 20s. Frost occurs on about a dozen of the 31 mornings in March.

The last hard freeze of the season frequently takes place prior to the first of April.

Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 13; remember to set clocks ahead one hour at 2 a.m.

Daybook
March 7: Virginia bluebells push out from the ground as day lilies spears reach four inches. Daffodils are budding; in six weeks, their season will be almost over. Only 10 weeks remain before the most delicate flowers and vegetables can be planted outside, three weeks until most hardy varieties can be set out.
Fertilizer spread on lawn and field will have a month to dissolve in the ground before April or May planting.

March 8: Today is Mardi Gras, the last day before the traditional six-week vigil for Easter. If you raise sheep, this is a good time to sell meat for a whole-lamb barbecue.

March 9: Carp initiate courtship rites in the warmer shallows. Above them, crows continue to pair off and select nesting sites. In the woods and in the fields, groundhogs are digging fresh dens.

March 10: Nettle and dandelion tops are ready to pick for greens. Chickweed flowers in the woods. Ducks arrive from the south in their mating plumage. White tundra swans reach Lake Erie.

March 11: When your bleeding hearts are an inch tall, then look for purple cress blooming in the bottomlands. When you see bumblebees and carpenter bees working in the flowers, then you know it’s time for termites to swarm.

March 12: Wolf spiders hatch in the gray fields. Earliest henbit blossoms. Lamb’s quarter sprouts. Pods of last summer’s dogbane are opening.

March 13: Today is one of the major pivot dates of the year, as the chances for a high temperature above 50 degrees increase from early March’s 25 percent, all the way up to 45 percent. Now foliage of lemon verbena, yarrow, mallow, bleeding heart and evening primrose are up. Red maples bloom.