“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” 

—Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

“One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of March thaw, is the spring.” 

—Aldo Leopold

“Daffodils,

That come before the swallow dares, and take

The winds of March with beauty.” 

—William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale

The month of March is unpredictable. A storm of ice and snow is always a possibility, but just as suddenly bright crisp days are there for cross-country skiing, or a chair set on melting snow for us to catch the lengthening days of sunshine. Mark Twain once exclaimed: “In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” 

This is a month when Nature stirs in Québec. Migratory animals begin to move into or out of the province. Whether it is the greater snow goose, or whales in the St. Lawrence, March marks the start of enormous activity for animals. Meanwhile, some whale species are changing their migratory patterns because warming oceans are demanding they hunt in new locations as climate warming is pushing their prey to new areas. 

Many burrowing creatures who will hibernate through most of the winter can now be spotted. Typically the American robin will be seen huddled on a branch in inclement conditions late in the month, and people will comment on their first sighting, concerned that the soil has not thawed enough for the newly arrived birds to dig for worms.

Here in Québec we also associate March with maple syrup time. The earth is warming and trees are moving nutrients from their roots up through their trunks to burgeoning buds for May’s wondrous summer leaves to capture carbon dioxide and release oxygen. As we move through the countryside, it is common to see vast amounts of water vapour emerging from maple sugar cabins. Many houses will have traditional metal sap buckets attached to maple trees. Both private and commercial celebrations take place and can easily be located throughout Québec.

March is also the time when humans start to plan with the awakening of Nature. The longer sunlit days inspire us to shake off winter’s lethargy. The seed catalogues are with us, and if you missed the mid-winter ritual of perusing the ones that arrived in December or January and ordering the seeds of your choice nice and early, you will still be able to find racks of seeds in all the hardware stores, and perhaps next year you will make your selection from a specialist publication. Here is a website that lists Canadian seed catalogues: https://tinyurl.com/catalogues-seeds

Over several decades a cycle of growing plants has emerged for me. After receiving vegetable and flower seeds by post in February, I sow various lettuce varieties in my indoor mini-greenhouses. Many people even eat their own-grown lettuces in January. As long as you have adequate ultraviolet light you need not be held to ransom by the high prices in the shops. 

I have already sown a resilient variety of basil, and the leaves will be available to eat in April. Next to be sown will be the seeds of flowers such as lisianthus, lobelia and snapdragon, as they need 8 to 10 weeks indoors before they can be transplanted. Other flowers will follow. 

Late March will be the time various kinds of pepper seeds will find their place in the indoor greenhouses, followed by aubergine seeds. I never tire of watching the seedlings appear. Some, like lobelia, are so small that they exude fragility, while others, such as the sweet or hot peppers, are sturdy and stalwart when they poke through the soil. These same pepper plants will eventually be planted outdoors when the soil temperature is very warm to the touch, but pepper bushes are a joy to see in large pots too, as they are so elegant to behold.

More so than New Year resolutions, the month of March exudes a renewed commitment to caring for Earth and all its inhabitants. People from around the world are protecting wildlife. The core idea of the global Great Backyard Bird Count in mid-February is to document birds before the thrilling migration happens in the spring. Last year more than 830,000 people participated in the event, recording around 70 percent of the world’s avian species in places from Australia to Canada. This year saw record-breaking levels of participation. https://tinyurl.com/backyard-of-birds

March 3 is World Wildlife Day. https://tinyurl.com/wildlife-UN-day With spiralling extinction happening across the world, we must stand up and confront the callous support factory farms are given by those who have the opportunity to know better. These massive farms kill wildlife through pollution, persecution, and the destruction of vital habitats in order to grow feed.

The Fifteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) will take place from March 23 to 29 in Brazil. Topics to be acted on will include habitat and biodiversity loss, conservation and ecological connectivity (the safeguarding of vital corridors for migratory species to pass through); and addressing exploitation and its prevention will be coordinated with government commitments. See https://www.cms.int/cop15

The first in-depth State of the World’s Migratory Species Report, launched in February 2024, spelled an increasingly alarming story. “The available evidence suggests that the conservation status of many CMS-listed species is deteriorating. One in five CMS species are threatened with extinction and a substantial proportion (44%) are undergoing population declines.” https://tinyurl.com/migratory-animals 

The United States and Canada never ratified the UN Convention on Migratory Species but have an agreement that goes back to 1916 focusing on migratory birds. It is not a very comprehensive document. In Canada we can expect little cooperation from the present US administration in safeguarding bird populations. In 2025 and into 2026 a raft of anti-Nature legislation has already been passed, and more is to come. The tragedy of the expanded Mexican—US wall will bring yet more misery to wildlife. Both US and Canada—governments and individuals—have failed the western and eastern monarch butterfly migratory populations. Each of us is reminded of this criminal lack of care. It is not because we don’t know what needs to be done to save the butterflies. Albert Einstein is believed to have said: “Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act, and in that action are the seeds of new knowledge.”

Growing seeds is a thing of beauty and involvement. It is the germination of courage. Give that opportunity to children, and watch them grow! No garden of your own? Find a community garden. Read up on compassionate and workshare gardening at https://tinyurl.com/garden-consciousness