RESIST THE URGE TO RUSH SPRING, PLANT WISELY DAMP SOIL CAN HARM ROOTS.

Byline: Jane Gates Special to the Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - Plant vendors will assure you it is indeed spring with the influx of annuals, perennials and vegetables offered this month.

Most of your hardy perennials are fine going into the ground now. It is also a good time to continue planting California natives and drought-tolerant plants. These will enjoy sending their roots out into the still moist and cool soil, establishing themselves for the big growth spurt with warm weather.

Cactuses and succulents are an exception. Plants with few branches that have adapted their stems or leaves as swollen water retainers usually have a less-water-resilient root system than other plants. If the ground is still cool and wet, these root systems can easily rot. They are best planted or transplanted later in the year. In fact, cactus (agaves, aloes and many other succulent plants) are best planted in dry soil and not watered for at least a few weeks.

The dry encourages these plants to send out new roots to seek water and, as a result, to form a more stable root system.

Be careful about planting tender vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash and beans early in the month unless you know we are going to have an exceptionally warm month. These plants are at a much higher risk in our cooler elevation than in the Los Angeles Basin or the San Fernando Valley.

Some tomatoes, particularly the cherry types, might fend off a minor cold spell, but the others are unlikely to survive. None of these grows particularly well in the cool weather and can be permanently stunted.

Because they are fast growers, it makes more sense to wait at least a month. They will make up the difference by growing vigorously without setback in a more hospitable environment.

Although it is tempting to rush spring in by planting early, it rarely improves the weather.

This is a good time of year to look at overgrown plants. Potted plants are best divided in early springtime as are many perennials and water plants.

Often clumps become so dense that flowering is strangled. By digging up these clumps and prying the root systems apart into smaller groups, more easily done with two large gardening forks, you provide yourself with free plants, while allowing the original plant more room to expand and bloom.

Plants with creeping root stocks, such as iris and water lilies, can drain the parent plant by spreading the energy too thin. Often it is only the tips of these roots that produce viable growth. Pond and bog plants need to be divided in early spring before growth becomes too rampant, yet after the break of dormancy so the cut ends do not rot.

Plants with creeping root-stocks require nothing but a large, sharp knife to make a cleanly sliced division. Each piece of root must have a healthy growth starting at the tip and you can cut any root into as many pieces as offer these tips. Plant them up and fill in empty spaces or give them away as gifts.