When to Plant What - Phenology
The Science of Letting Nature Tell You When to Plant

Someone wrote and asked me when to plant their potatoes. Usually I say that depends on the weather and the type of potato. But lately I’ve been paying more attention to the signals nature gives us year after year. I started collecting this type of advise years ago, but only recently wised up and began using it. It’s called phenology and it’s the study of paying attention to when things happen and which things happen together every year. Like noticing that squash vine borer eggs appear about the same time as the beautiful blue chicory flowers. Here are the words of wisdom I’ve collected through the years of letting nature signal when to plant. If you’ve got some wisdom to pass along, I hope you’ll leave us a ‘comment’ below.