It's hard to know where to stop when spring fever strikes. Some folks are fit to be tied.

Meet my next-door neighbors, the Pokeweed family, who just moved down from their previous digs in Fish Emulsion, Tennessee. That's Ficus Pokeweed on the right; his radiant wife, Honeydew, in the center; and their two lovely children, Humus and Tansy. This delightful, if somewhat zany, group just can't wait for spring. At the first sight of all the flower and vegetable transplants overflowing greenhouse benches, they pursue the only logical course. They raid the kids' college fund to buy as many annuals, perennials, shrubs and supplies as can be crammed into a rusted minivan without violating the laws of physics.

After zooming home at Mach 1.2, they set out transplants in neat little rows, heedless of an oncoming cold front. Upon waking the next morning to find that frost has turned their transplants into disgusting goop resembling strained peas, they vow never to be so foolish again and promptly invest in a pyramid scheme.

The Pokeweeds may be a bit far-gone, but there's a little of them in most of us. We have a pretty good idea of when it's finally safe to set out tender plants, but we're also seduced by the combination of bright flowers begging to be bought and sunny, unseasonably mild weather. So we temporarily jettison our common sense and hope we don't pay for it later.

If you're unsure which transplants can be planted now and take a light frost and which ones need to wait until the danger of frost has passed, refer to the lists above. But don't go nuts if you've already set out tender plants and hear that a frost is coming. There are easy ways to provide temporary protection. You can place an empty flowerpot over a plant for the night. (Make sure it's big enough to fit over the plant without squashing it.) A plastic milk jug with the bottom cut out will do the same job. Or drape plants with a floating row cover or lightweight shade cloth. Covering plants with pots or jugs will ward off a light frost, while the use of a row cover or shade cloth should protect plants subjected to temperatures as cold as 27 or 28 degrees.

Other Early-spring Chores

• Planting trees and shrubs--March is a great time. The weather is cool, and there's usually plenty of rain, so root systems can grow without being stressed.
• Pruning--Now is the time to prune summer-flowering trees and shrubs, such as crepe myrtle, Rose-of-Sharon (shrub althaea), chaste tree, butterfly bush, gardenia, cape plumbago, and hibiscus. Remove dead, diseased, or spindly growth. You can also prune most shade trees except for maple and birch. (You should wait until summer for them.)
• Fertilizing lawns and seeding or sodding--Do this for cool-season lawns, such as Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, and perennial ryegrass. Get it done now before hot weather.
• Preparing soil--As soon as it is dry enough to work without getting muddy, use a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil of an empty bed to a depth of about a foot. Work in lots of organic matter, such as garden compost, chopped leaves, composted manure, ground bark, and sphagnum peat moss. Add any necessary lime, sulfur, or other nutrients as indicated by a soil test. If your bed is already planted with perennials, spread a thick layer of compost or chopped leaves around plants.

• broccoli
• cabbage
• English pea
• kale
• lettuce
• onion sets
• pansypetunia
• seed potatoes
• snapdragon
• spinach
• sweet William
• viola

• ageratum
• begoni
• caladium
• celosia
• coleus
• eggplant
• impatiens
• marigold
• pentas
• pepper
• tomato
• zinnia