I'm cleaning up now around the plants that aren't divas. This does not include roses or hydrangeas. If you want to clean up, then re-cover with fresh mulch, that's another story. K.

I'm in NY, more like zone 6B or 7, and I usually start uncovering plants the end of March. Still too early here. And my last frost date isn't until about May 15. I know it's been unusually warm, and I already have Spring fever,but I keep telling myself to hold off.

They say you should wait until the native trees start to leaf out and/or the forsythia starts to bloom. For my zone that's typically the end of April.

Laurie

I know some say to wait until the trees start leafing out, but I often find that's too late. By then there have been alot of sunny warm days, and the plants under the mulch (such as roses) might warm up too much and start growing prematurely.

I guess it depends on the plant and the location in the yard, sun exposure, etc.

For conifers that are wrapped in burlap, I usually wait until the snow pack has melted and the ground thawed out a bit, probably the first week of April. Last year I left this too long and the branch ends of my yew browned and died whereever it was touching the blanket that I used to cover it with (we had an unusual warm 60's spell in early April but there was still some snow around the plants, so I didn't want to uncover).

Glen