March is Florida's spring crescendo — the first big wave of trans-Gulf migrants reaches the southern peninsula and the Dry Tortugas, the wading-bird rookeries are crowded with nests, and the roadsides blaze with tickseed and other wildflowers. The dry season is at its peak, the gardens race the coming heat, and the nights are still cool and clear.
Week by week in March
February 26 – March 4
- The state wildflower, coreopsis (tickseed), begins washing roadsides yellow as the great spring wildflower season opens.
- The first trans-Gulf migrants — Northern Parula, prothonotary and yellow-throated warblers — arrive in the coastal hammocks.
- Late Valencia oranges and the last grapefruit peak as central-Florida blueberries — the nation's first — begin to ripen.
March 5–11
- Spring migration builds as the Dry Tortugas begin filling with warblers and the great seabird colony of sooty terns gathers on Bush Key.
- Wild azaleas peak pink and orange in the north Florida woods while spiderwort, lupine, and blue-eyed grass open in the sandhills.
- Prime warm-season planting statewide — get tomatoes, peppers, beans, and corn in early so they fruit before the summer heat.
March 12–18
- Bald cypress flushes feathery new green needles at Corkscrew and Big Cypress, transforming the bare gray swamps almost overnight.
- Swallow-tailed Kites wheel in growing numbers over the south, and the wading-bird rookeries reach full nesting tilt.
- Zebra longwings and gulf fritillaries swarm passionflower as the first big spring broods of swallowtails fill the woods.
March 19–25
- The spring equinox near March 20 evens day and night as the rich Virgo galaxy fields climb the eastern sky over the dark prairie.
- Orange blossoms perfume whole central-Florida towns as the citrus comes into heavy fragrant bloom.
- Plant City strawberries enter their final big month while central-Florida blueberries ramp up across the U-pick farms.
March 26 – April 1
- The Dry Tortugas migrant trap stages its first big warbler fallouts as cold fronts drop exhausted songbirds into the trees on Garden Key.
- Dogwood, redbud, and fringetree flower white and pink in the Panhandle woods among the fresh new green.
- Plant the heat-lovers — okra, southern peas, and sweet potatoes — that will carry the long, hot summer when tomatoes fail.
Birds This Month
March opens Florida's spring migration, one of the great birding events in North America. Trans-Gulf migrants begin pouring into the southern peninsula, and by late month the Dry Tortugas — seventy miles west of Key West — become a legendary migrant trap and seabird colony, where exhausted warblers drop into the few trees on Garden Key and Sooty and Brown Noddies, Masked and Brown Boobies, and Magnificent Frigatebirds wheel over Bush Key. The first Black-and-white, Hooded, Prothonotary, Northern Parula, and Yellow-throated Warblers, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Swallow-tailed Kites arrive across the state.
The wading-bird rookeries are at full nesting tilt — Wood Storks, Great and Snowy Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Anhingas, and herons crowd the cypress at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and the south Florida colonies. Purple Martins and Northern Rough-winged Swallows are back, the endemic Florida Scrub-Jay is nesting, and the Snail Kite and Limpkin are conspicuous on the central-Florida marshes and spring runs. Wintering ducks thin out at Merritt Island, but shorebirds build on the flats, and resident Northern Mockingbirds, the state bird, and Northern Cardinals are in full song.
What's Blooming
March is the great explosion of Florida's spring wildflowers. The state wildflower, coreopsis (tickseed), begins washing roadsides and fields yellow, planted in highway wildflower strips and blooming wild across the flatwoods. The native azaleas peak — wild pinxter and Florida flame azalea light the north Florida woods pink and orange — and Carolina jessamine, spiderwort, blue-eyed grass, lupine, phlox, and sundial lupine spread across the sandhills and scrub.
In the dry pine flatwoods and prairies, blackroot, pawpaw, partridge pea, and the showy Florida violets open, and the Lake Wales Ridge scrub holds rare endemics found nowhere else on earth. South Florida's hammocks and pinelands keep their tropical bloom going with firebush, beach sunflower, scorpionstail, and tropical sage. The orange blossoms — the state flower — perfume the central groves as the citrus finishes its heavy bloom, the dogwoods and redbuds flower in the Panhandle woods, and gardens overflow with azaleas, amaryllis, bromeliads, and the first gaillardia.
Garden This Month
March is the prime warm-season planting month across Florida, and the great race against the coming heat. After the last frost, set out and direct-sow tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, cucumbers, beans, sweet corn, and melons — the goal everywhere is to get fruiting crops established early enough to harvest before the punishing summer heat, humidity, and rains shut them down by June. The last of the cool-season greens — lettuce, broccoli, collards — should be harvested before they bolt in the warming weather.
This is also the time to plant the heat-loving Southern crops that thrive when tomatoes fail: okra, southern (field) peas, sweet potatoes, and boniato. The dry season is at its driest, so water new transplants deeply and mulch heavily to hold moisture. Fertilize the established beds, watch for the first aphids and caterpillars as the warmth brings out the insects, and stake and trellis the tomatoes and beans. Plant warm-season herbs — basil, oregano, lemongrass — and set out tropical fruit trees like mango, avocado, and banana in the frost-free south as the soil warms.
Zone 8b (north Florida & the Panhandle): the spring planting season finally opens as frost danger passes by mid-month. Set out tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, cucumbers, and corn, and start the heat-lovers — okra, southern peas, and sweet potatoes — for the long hot summer ahead.
Zone 9a (north-central Florida): warm-season planting is in full swing. Get tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, beans, and corn in early so they fruit before the summer heat, and keep harvesting the last of the cool-season greens before they bolt.
Zone 9b (central Florida): race the heat. Finish setting out warm-season vegetables now, mulch heavily against the drying dry-season winds, and begin shifting toward the heat-tolerant tropical crops that will carry the garden through summer.
What's at the Farmers Market
March markets brim with the tail end of the citrus season and the spring vegetable flood. Late Valencia oranges, the prized juice orange, peak now alongside the last grapefruit, tangerines, and honeybells from the central and Indian River groves. Plant City strawberries are still pouring out of the Hillsborough and Polk county fields in their final big month, and central-Florida blueberries are ramping up as the earliest crop in the nation.
The winter and spring vegetable fields keep producing heavily — tomatoes, bell peppers, snap beans, sweet corn, cucumbers, squash, cabbage, lettuce, and greens from the southern and east-coast growing regions — and the first spring sweet corn from the Everglades muck region and Vidalia-style sweet onions appear. Look for Florida honey (the orange-blossom honey is at its finest now), boiled peanuts, and stone-ground grits at the roadside stands. Pick strawberries fully red and refrigerate them unwashed in a single layer, store blueberries dry and cold, keep tomatoes at room temperature, and hold citrus cool for the last weeks of the season.
Night Sky This Month
March is one of the finest stargazing months in Florida — the dry season still keeps the air clear, the nights stay mild and comfortable, and the sky pivots from winter's brilliance to spring's deep galaxy fields. Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, the state's first certified International Dark Sky Park, holds some of its best star parties now on the wide unlit prairie, and the dark skies of Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades back roads reward the drive from the coastal cities. The flat Florida horizon lets the whole dome stand out.
In the evening, Orion still rides the western sky as Leo the Lion climbs high with bright Regulus, leading the spring constellations. Late at night the rich galaxy field of Virgo and Coma Berenices rises in the east — a paradise for a small telescope under dark Florida skies — and the Big Dipper swings high in the north, its handle arcing down to bright Arcturus. The spring equinox falls near March 20, evening out day and night. There is no major meteor shower this month, so the moonless nights are best spent sweeping the galaxy clusters. The printable Florida night-sky guide lists this year's planet positions and dark-sky sites for your region.
Butterflies & Pollinators
March brings Florida's butterfly fauna roaring into spring. The state butterfly, the zebra longwing, and the gulf fritillary are abundant on passionflower across the peninsula, and the first big spring broods of giant, eastern tiger, spicebush, and palamedes swallowtails fill the woods and gardens. Cloudless sulphurs, orange-barred sulphurs, white peacocks, common buckeyes, red admirals, American ladies, long-tailed skippers, and the coastal great southern whites are all on the wing, and monarchs are breeding on milkweed across the central and southern counties.
This is a fine month to watch for spring specialties and migrants. Painted ladies and red admirals move north through the state, the pierids stream along the coasts, and the southeast-coast hammocks keep their year-round atala hairstreaks emerging from coontie. In the pine flatwoods and scrub, look for the early frosted and Henry's elfins, Juniper hairstreaks, and the small native blues. With the wildflowers at their spring peak, the nectar is everywhere — tickseed, lupine, blanketflower, firebush, and Spanish needles draw clouds of butterflies along the roadsides and field edges. It is one of the best months of the year for butterflying in Florida.
What to plant for them is in the Florida native plants guide
Trees This Month
March is full subtropical spring in the Florida trees. The bald cypress of Corkscrew, Big Cypress, and the blackwater rivers flush their feathery new needles a brilliant fresh green, transforming the bare gray swamps almost overnight. The live oaks finish their leaf exchange and drape long catkins of yellow-green pollen, while the red maple samaras spin down over the lowlands. In the Panhandle woods, the flowering dogwood, redbud, fringetree, and wild plum bloom white and pink among the new green.
The Panhandle longleaf pine sandhills shed clouds of golden pollen across the wiregrass, dusting cars and porches for miles, and the slash and loblolly pines flush new growth. The native magnolias and the southern crabapple begin to flower, and the gardens fill with blooming azaleas, dogwoods, and the first jacaranda and tabebuia in the south. The citrus groves carry their last fragrant orange blossoms even as the new fruit sets. The state tree, the sabal palm, and the south-coast mangroves hold their evergreen crowns, ready for the wet season ahead.
Weather & Daylight
Across Florida, a typical March day averages a high near 77°F and a low near 54°F, with about 3.4 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
Spring arrives briskly, highs climbing past 75F even as steadier rains return and evenings stay cool.
| Average high | 77°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 54°F |
| Precipitation | 3.4 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 7:39 ET |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 19:37 ET |
Figures are statewide averages over the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals; local conditions vary with elevation and distance from the coast. Sunrise and sunset are computed for a midstate point on the 15th (ET).
Next month's version of this page, by email
One short note when Florida's next month turns — what's arriving, blooming, and worth a night outside.
Go deeper with the Florida guides
The complete Florida birding, native-plant, and night-sky references — or the whole year, week by week, in one book.
Same month elsewhere: March in Georgia · March in Idaho · March in Illinois