Although I learned about the 24 solar terms from a textbook when I was a little kid, I had seldom thought of them in my daily life except that sometimes I randomly noticed the special red mark about them in my calendar. One early spring morning when I still lived in Brooklyn, I clearly heard thunder; later that day, from the online news I read that one magnolia tree in Central Park in Manhattan opened the earliest magnolia blossoms of the year. And that day was "Insects Awakening" according to the solar terms.
Perhaps it was just coincidence. But since those incidents, I started to pay attention to the solar terms, especially after moving into our current house two and a half years ago and becoming a home gardener. Yes, as a new gardener, I needed a clear guide or reference to tell me when I should do what so I wouldn’t miss the season. Fortunately, I could take the solar terms as reminders, and let them lead my garden activities.
My experience is that this is not just an ancient wisdom almanac for farmers; paying attention to these dates is definitely a home gardener’s guide to success. Read on.
Last year on the “Beginning of Spring” day, I planted my prunus mume; in just five months, it developed a healthy root ball and some roots were as long as two feet. So this year, the day after the “Beginning of Spring”, I transplanted my climbing rose and built a pergola for it as an event to mark the beginning of my 2025 gardening.
While last year between the “Beginning of Spring” and “Rain Water”, I cut back the perennials such as asters, chrysanthemums, Russian sages, salvias; this year I did the same thing.
Next Tuesday, February 18th, will be “Rain Water”. Theoretically after that day, the rain will increase and the soil will further warm up, time for us to start our outdoor planting and indoor sowing. I don’t have many to plant so far except for the replacement of my dead gardenia, but I will do some transplants with the cold hardy plants like butterfly bush and chrysanthemum.
March 5th will be “Insects Awakening” day. Starting from that day, we will expect some early spring flowers to bloom. While to me, it reminds me of doing some pruning work for my abelia, azaleas, crape myrtle and lavenders before their buds break.
March 20th, "Spring Equinox", will be time for me to sow outdoors. Turnip, bok choy, arugula, onion, garlic…these cold hardy vegetables are at the top of my list. For basil, ginger, taro root and tomato baby plants, more cold sensitive vegetables, I will hold and wait to sow and plant them till April 4th, the “Clear & Bright” day.
Regarding the last solar term of spring, “Grain Rain” April 20th, I don’t have any plan about what I am going to do on and after that day yet. I guess I will fertilize the vegetables and build trellis for them. But all in all, these specific activities on these solar term days are just my experiment, I will adjust and finalize them based on the relevant outcomes after several more growing seasons, then I will share them with you.
Wish you a beautiful, bright Spring!
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