Garden Tips Spring 2006
		Cool Season Plants
		The snow is gone and I'm ready to start planting! Anyone who has gardened in Northern Michigan knows that they should wait until after the last frost to plant. While there are publications listing the average last frost date for various regions, we all know the timing of the last frost can change drastically from year to year. Even the years we know it is "safe to plant", we occasionally find ourselves digging out old sheets or rolls of plastic to cover our plants to protect them from a forecasted frost. (Yes, we are usually protecting further damage to our pocketbooks and backs at the same time!) For those of you who don't want to wait until after "the last frost date" to get out and play, I mean work, in the soil, consider planting cool season vegetables and annuals. Most cool season plants do not do well in the hot days and nights of summer but thrive during the cooler spring and fall seasons. Following is some information and links to sites that discuss cool season plants. Some of these links are to out-of-state websites, so dates that are mentioned may vary for our Northern Michigan climate..
		Cool Season Annuals (pdf file) Provided by Tim Volas of Eden Hill Greenhouse, Beulah Michigan
		"Cool Season Vegetables - Zone 4" University of Minnesota
		"Planting the Vegetable Garden" University of Minnesota
		"Some Like it Hot, but Some Do Not!" Purdue University
		"Now is the time to plant cool season crops" North Forty News, LaPorte, Colorado