March is when Montana's spring detonates on the plains: the famous Freezeout Lake migration peaks, with hundreds of thousands of snow geese and tundra swans dropping onto the wetlands below the Rocky Mountain Front. Grouse begin to dance at dawn, the first wildflowers nose up on south slopes, and the rivers break free of ice even as the mountains stay deep in snow.
Week by week in March
February 26 – March 4
- Mountain bluebirds begin returning to the foothill fence lines, flashing blue against the late-winter snow — one of the first welcome migrants.
- On the warmest south-facing foothill slopes, the waxy yellow cups of sagebrush buttercup open, often through patches of melting snow — Montana's first wildflower.
- Sow tomatoes, peppers, and cole crops under lights now so transplants are ready when the long frost season finally lifts in May or June.
March 5–11
- The Freezeout Lake migration builds — the first big pushes of snow geese and tundra swans drop onto the wetlands below the Rocky Mountain Front as the ice goes off.
- The silky purple of prairie crocus (pasqueflower) opens on dry foothill grasslands and breaks, the classic herald of a Montana spring.
- Sharp-tailed grouse spin and stamp on their leks at first light, and the earliest sage-grouse begin to strut on the sagebrush flats.
March 12–18
- Western meadowlarks resume singing over greening foothills, and red-winged blackbirds, killdeer, and the first ducks flood the thawing wetlands.
- Willows redden and push their silvery pussy-willow buds and aspens hang out long catkins in the foothills and river bottoms.
- In the mildest valleys west of the Divide, prep dried-out beds and cautiously direct-sow peas, spinach, and radishes under cover.
March 19–25
- The Freezeout Lake spectacle peaks — hundreds of thousands of snow geese and tens of thousands of tundra swans stage in roaring, sky-filling clouds at dawn and dusk.
- The spring equinox brings equal day and night, and the chance of faint zodiacal light in the west after dusk under Montana's dark skies.
- Yellowbells and spring beauty appear in the lower foothill grasslands as the snow recedes from the warm south slopes.
March 26 – April 1
- The first butterflies of the year emerge in the warmest valleys — mourning cloaks and Milbert's tortoiseshells bask on sunny cottonwood trunks over melting snow.
- Mountain bluebirds, tree swallows, and the first turkey vultures and ospreys return to the river valleys as migration accelerates.
- Pot up onions and leeks and keep tomato and pepper seedlings under strong light to grow stocky for the still-distant transplant date.
Birds This Month
March is one of Montana's two best birding months, and the headline is Freezeout Lake near Fairfield. As the ice goes off the shallow wetlands beneath the Rocky Mountain Front, the spring migration builds to one of the great wildlife spectacles of the continent — hundreds of thousands of snow geese and Ross's geese, joined by tens of thousands of tundra swans, staging in roaring, sky-filling clouds. Their numbers typically peak in late March, and the noise and motion of liftoff at dawn is unforgettable.
Across the plains the grouse are dancing: sharp-tailed grouse spin and stamp on their leks at first light, greater sage-grouse strut and boom in the sagebrush sea, and in the western mountains dusky and ruffed grouse begin to display. The first migrants pour back — mountain bluebirds flash blue along the foothill fences, western meadowlarks resume singing, and red-winged blackbirds, killdeer, American robins, and the first ducks and geese flood the thawing wetlands and rivers.
This month's tip: time a Freezeout Lake visit for late March and be there at dawn or dusk for the mass flights, and seek out a sharp-tailed or sage-grouse lek at first light — but watch from a distance or a blind so you don't flush the displaying birds.
What's Blooming
March brings Montana's very first wildflowers to the warmest, earliest ground. On dry, south-facing foothill slopes and gravelly hilltops, the sagebrush buttercup opens its waxy yellow cups, often through patches of late snow, and the silky purple of prairie crocus (pasqueflower) follows close behind on the open grasslands and breaks — the true heralds of a Montana spring. In the lower valleys west of the Divide, spring beauty and the nodding yellowbells (yellow fritillary) appear in the foothill grasslands as the snow recedes.
The flush is still local and tied to bare, sun-warmed soil — the mountains and the deep plains remain dormant — but it is unmistakably the start. In the river bottoms the willows redden and push their soft catkins, the aspens hang out their long tassels, and the first bees work the early blooms on warm afternoons. The great foothill wash of bitterroot and balsamroot still waits for May.
Garden This Month
March is the heart of Montana's indoor seed-starting season. Sow tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and the cole crops — broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower — under lights now so transplants are ready when the long frost season finally lifts in May or June. Pot up the onions and leeks started earlier, and keep everything under strong light to grow stocky, not leggy.
Outdoors, patience is the rule: the frost-free date is still far off across most of the state, and the cardinal sin is working wet, half-frozen soil, which destroys its structure for the whole year. In the mildest valleys west of the Divide, late March allows the first prep of dried-out beds and a cautious direct-sowing of peas, spinach, and radishes under cover. Prune any remaining dormant fruit trees and grapes before the buds break, start hardening off cold-frame greens, and resist the urge to clean up perennial beds too early — leave the standing stems until the pollinators emerge.
Zone 3b (high plains & cold valleys): still firmly indoor-start season — sow tomatoes, peppers, and cole crops under lights now, and start onions if you haven't. Outdoors stay off the soggy, half-frozen soil; working it wet ruins structure for the season. The last frost is a long two-plus months away here.
Zone 4a (central & eastern plains): start warm-season transplants indoors and, late in the month on a workable bed, direct-sow the toughest cool crops — peas, spinach, radish — under cover if the soil has dried enough to crumble in your hand.
Zone 5a (warm valleys like the Bitterroot & lower Yellowstone): the mildest pockets can prep beds and direct-sow peas, spinach, lettuce, and radishes late in the month, and uncover overwintered garlic to green up; still hold tender transplants indoors well into spring.
What's at the Farmers Market
March is the lean edge of Montana's market year — outdoor markets are still weeks away, and indoor winter markets carry the last of the storage crops. Expect the keepers: potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, onions, cabbage, and winter squash, softening but holding, beside Montana lentils, dry peas, and dry beans and locally milled wheat flour.
The fresh notes are indoor-grown: microgreens, spinach, and salad greens from heated hoop houses, and the first cut-and-come-again lettuces. Ranch-direct Montana beef and lamb, local honey, eggs, and jarred huckleberry and chokecherry preserves round out the tables. A handful of growers tap bottomland boxelder for thin early syrup as the sap runs on warm days. Keep greens cold and humid in the fridge and use them quickly, since hoop-house greens are tender and don't store long.
Night Sky This Month
March nights are still long and dark in Montana, and the deep cold is easing for more comfortable observing. Glacier National Park, an International Dark Sky Park, anchors the state's stargazing, with the dark plains around the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and the high Big Hole and Centennial valleys nearly as black. The equinox brings the rare balance of equal night and day and, for a window around it, the chance of zodiacal light — a faint pyramid of glow in the west after dusk — visible only under Montana-class darkness.
The brilliant winter stars are sliding west: Orion and the Winter Hexagon now stand in the southwest after dark, while Leo the lion climbs in the east, heralding spring, and the Big Dipper rides high in the north to point its pointer stars to Polaris. The faint spring galaxies of the Realm of the Galaxies begin to rise late. On active nights, the high-latitude aurora borealis can still flare along the northern horizon.
Exact planet positions and meteor dates change each year — the printable Montana night-sky guide lists this season's planet visibility and the darkest accessible sites near you.
Butterflies & Pollinators
March marks the first butterflies of the Montana year, though only in the warmest, lowest valleys. On a sunny, wind-still afternoon in the river bottoms west of the Divide and in the lower Yellowstone country, the overwintering adults emerge to bask: the mourning cloak first of all, its dark wings drinking the sun on a cottonwood trunk, followed by the orange Milbert's tortoiseshell and the early anglewings (the green comma and relatives), all of which spent the winter as adults tucked behind bark and in woodpiles. These first fliers feed on tree sap, mud, and the earliest willow catkins rather than flowers, since little is blooming yet. The plains and the mountains are still snow-bound and butterfly-free. The big diversity — the swallowtails, fritillaries, admirals, and the alpine parnassians — is still a couple of months off, but the sight of a single mourning cloak over melting snow is the first proof that the Montana insect year has begun.
What to plant for them is in the Montana native plants guide
Trees This Month
March stirs Montana's trees awake in the warmer lowlands while the high country sleeps on. In the river bottoms and foothills, the aspens hang out long gray catkins, the willows redden and push silvery pussy-willow buds, and the plains cottonwoods swell their sticky, resin-scented buds along the Yellowstone and Missouri. Rocky Mountain maple and boxelder begin to run sap, and the earliest pollen drifts from Rocky Mountain juniper on the dry breaks.
The conifers remain the dominant green: in the northwest the western larch is still a bare gray skeleton among the evergreen Douglas-fir, spruce, and lodgepole, weeks from its spring flush, while the foothill ponderosa pines, the state tree, hold their long needles and orange bark. Snow still loads the high subalpine forests of Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir, where the growing season won't truly begin until June. The thaw moves uphill slowly, a wave of green that takes months to reach treeline.
Weather & Daylight
Across Montana, a typical March day averages a high near 44°F and a low near 21°F, with about 1.3 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
Raw and unsettled, mornings near 21F giving way to milder afternoons as the thaw slowly takes hold.
| Average high | 44°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 21°F |
| Precipitation | 1.3 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 7:35 MT |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 19:26 MT |
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 (MT).
Next month's version of this page, by email
One short note when Montana's next month turns — what's arriving, blooming, and worth a night outside.
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Same month elsewhere: March in Nebraska · March in Nevada · March in New Hampshire