Tomorrow is the Ides of March. All that means, really, is that it's the 15th of the month. In the ancient Roman calendar, the 15th of March, May, July and October were referred to as the ides, as were the 13th of the other months. Each ide indicated the halfway point of the lunar month in question, as idus means "divide" in Latin.
Superstition about the full moon was alive and well back in those days, probably more so than today, and so the ides were perceived as unlucky. The day truly did prove unlucky for one Julius Ceasar in the year 44 BC, when he was assassinated by a group of jealous senators that most famously included the trusted Brutus.
In the play named for the dictator, William Shakespaere wrote that Vestricius Spurinna, as astrologer, had warned Caesar of the impending doom, "Beware the ides of March." Whether it really happened that way is a matter of speculation.
For me, the ides of March is a happy day. It's the day before my father's birthday, two days before I indulge in soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and just a week before spring officially begins. Crocuses are in full swing, and I can begin cleaning up the garden to prepare for the forthcoming onslaught of perennials.
Here's a short list of March Gardening Chores:
• Protect existing deciduous trees from insects by treating with horticultural oil after the danger of frost has passed. Don't wait too long, though. This should be done before buds open.
• Start seeds indoors in a soil-less growing medium.
• Apply a 5-10-5 fertilizer to spring-flowering bulbs as soon as they poke out of the ground.
• Cut back ornamental grasses and last year's perennials, if you haven't already.
• Thin brambles (raspberries, blackberries, etc.)
• Planning on adding new trees or shrubs to your landscape? Now's the time.
• Need to rearrange? Move shrubs now, while they're still dormant.
