March is the swing month — gray whales stream north past the headlands, sage-grouse dance on their high-desert leks, and the Willamette Valley greens up with the first camas and trilliums. Spring migration begins as winter geese depart and the first swallows return.
Week by week in March
February 26 – March 4
- Tree and violet-green swallows return to the Willamette Valley, and turkey vultures reappear overhead as spring migration begins.
- Pacific trillium opens on the shaded forest floor, and red-flowering currant lights the woodland edges deep pink for the returning hummingbirds.
- Prime sowing in the valley — direct-sow carrots, beets, and lettuce, set out potatoes, and transplant cole crops.
March 5–11
- Greater Sage-Grouse strut and pop their air sacs at dawn on the southeastern leks near Hart Mountain and the Steens — a primeval March spectacle.
- The flame-tipped Sara orangetip and the powder-blue spring azure appear along sunny valley trails and woodland edges.
- Bigleaf maple opens its drooping greenish-yellow flower racemes alongside the new leaves, and Indian plum is in full white bloom.
March 12–18
- Osprey return to their nest platforms, and the wintering geese and tundra swans begin streaming out of the valley and Klamath refuges.
- The first common camas spikes rise in the wettest valley prairies, and the Hood River orchards begin to froth white with pear and cherry blossom.
- Overwintered spinach, green garlic, and the first nettles reach the year-round Portland and Corvallis markets.
March 19–25
- Rufous hummingbirds blanket the foothills, and on the coast the wintering brant peak in the bays before heading north.
- Around the spring equinox, Leo climbs the east and the Big Dipper swings high to point at Polaris over Oregon's dark-sky country.
- Plant strawberries and asparagus crowns, and stay vigilant on slugs, which surge with the spring rains around tender seedlings.
March 26 – April 1
- Camas begins washing the Willamette Valley prairies blue at remnants like Camassia Natural Area and Mount Pisgah.
- The mid-Columbia and Hood River pear and cherry orchards reach their glory, foaming white and pink against Mount Hood.
- The first western tiger swallowtails emerge in the warmest southwest valleys, and California tortoiseshells stir on warming sage slopes.
Birds This Month
March is a month of arrivals and departures across Oregon. The big spectacle is on the southeastern high-desert leks, where male Greater Sage-Grouse strut and pop their air sacs at dawn near Hart Mountain and the Steens — a primeval display best seen on a frosty March morning. Tree and violet-green swallows return to the valley, rufous hummingbirds push north up the coast and into the foothills, and turkey vultures reappear overhead.
The wintering geese — cackling, dusky Canada, white-fronted — and the tundra swans begin streaming out of the Willamette Valley and Klamath refuges, while shorebirds gather on the coast and sandhill cranes stage at Sauvie Island and stage along the Klamath. Osprey return to their nest platforms, varied thrushes sing their eerie one-note songs in the wet woods, and resident great horned and barred owls have nestlings. The coast's brant peak in the bays.
What's Blooming
March opens Oregon's wildflower season in the west. The white Pacific trillium unfurls on the shaded forest floor across the valley and Coast Range, one of the most beloved native blooms, and native red-flowering currant lights up the woodland edges in deep pink — a magnet for the returning rufous hummingbirds. The state flower, Oregon grape, is in full yellow bloom, and the first common camas spikes rise in the wettest valley prairies toward month's end.
Forest floors fill with spring beauty, fawn lily, fairy bells, and yellow wood violet, while skunk cabbage glows yellow in the swampy bottoms. In gardens, daffodils, hyacinths, and flowering cherries and magnolias peak, and the Hood River and mid-Columbia orchards begin to froth white and pink with pear and cherry blossom. East of the Cascades, the desert is still mostly brown, with the first sagebrush buttercup in warm spots.
Garden This Month
March is the busiest sowing month in western Oregon's mild gardens. Direct-sow the full range of cool-season crops as soil warms and dries — peas, carrots, beets, radishes, spinach, chard, lettuce, and parsnips — and set out seed potatoes, onions, shallots, and transplants of broccoli, cabbage, and kale. Plant strawberries, asparagus crowns, and any remaining bare-root stock before bud break.
Indoors, keep tomatoes, peppers, and basil under lights for May planting. Top-dress beds with compost, mulch overwintered crops, and stay vigilant on slugs, which surge with the spring rains. Frost still threatens tender seedlings on clear valley nights, so keep cloches and row cover handy. East of the Cascades, the high-desert garden is still cold — start seed indoors and ready beds, but resist the urge to sow outside until the long Bend spring truly arrives.
Zone 6b (Bend & high desert): winter loosens slowly. Start tomatoes and brassicas indoors, prune dormant fruit, and prepare beds, but keep direct-sowing for later — hard frosts persist into May at altitude.
Zone 7b (foothills & Columbia Gorge): a week or two behind the valley floor. Sow the hardy cool-season crops under cloche, plant bare-root while dormant, and hold warm crops indoors until frost danger eases.
Zone 8a (Willamette Valley): prime sowing now. Direct-sow peas, carrots, beets, radishes, spinach, and lettuce, set out potatoes and onion starts, and transplant cole crops. Watch for late frost on tender seedlings.
What's at the Farmers Market
March markets show the first green shoots of the new season layered over winter storage. The earliest spring crops appear — overwintered spinach, arugula, green garlic, radishes, and tender salad greens from the mild valley, alongside the last of the storage Hood River pears, apples, potatoes, and onions. Purple sprouting broccoli hits its peak, and nettles and the first wild greens reach the stalls.
Oregon hazelnuts remain plentiful, and the Dungeness crab season is winding through its final strong stretch — late-winter crab is still excellent. Look for spring chinook in coastal towns and the first farm eggs as hens come back into lay with the lengthening days. Choose the freshest greens and use them quickly, store crab cold and use it the same day, and keep the last storage pears at room temperature to finish ripening. The year-round Portland markets bridge winter and spring nicely.
Night Sky This Month
March balances on the equinox, and Oregon's clearing skies open the transition from winter to spring stars. The state's dark-sky strongholds — the Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary near Lakeview, Prineville Reservoir State Park, and the high desert around Pine Mountain Observatory — give superb darkness as the long winter nights shorten. The Cascade crest and Crater Lake rim sparkle on clear cold nights.
Orion and the winter hexagon still command the early evening southwest, but they now set earlier as the spring constellations rise: Leo the lion climbs the east, the Big Dipper swings high to point at Polaris, and the faint Beehive Cluster in Cancer rides overhead in dark skies. The winter Milky Way sinks west. There is no major meteor shower in March, making it ideal for the Moon, planets, and galaxy-hunting in Leo and Virgo as the sky darkens; the printable Oregon night-sky guide gives this year's planet positions and dark-sky dates.
Butterflies & Pollinators
March brings the first true spring butterflies to western Oregon. The Sara orangetip, with its flame-tipped forewings, flies along sunny valley trails, canyons, and forest edges in the Willamette and Rogue valleys, and the tiny powder-blue spring azure appears at woodland margins and near blooming red-flowering currant. The first western tiger swallowtails can emerge in the warmest southwest valleys by late month.
The overwintering adults are active throughout the mild west now — mourning cloaks, California tortoiseshells, and the angled commas patrolling and basking on warm afternoons. Early cabbage whites flutter over gardens and field edges. East of the Cascades, the high desert is still too cold for much flight, though a tortoiseshell may appear on a warm canyon slope. Plant native nectar and host plants now — early-blooming currant, willow catkins, and spring wildflowers fuel this first generation.
Trees This Month
March is bud break across western Oregon. Bigleaf maple opens its drooping greenish-yellow flower racemes alongside the new leaves, the streamside cottonwoods and willows flush green, and red alder finishes shedding pollen and begins to leaf. Indian plum is in full white bloom and the woodland vine maples push their first delicate leaves.
The mid-Columbia and Hood River orchards reach their glory toward month's end as pear and cherry trees foam white and pink against Mount Hood. Oregon white oak on the valley savanna still holds bare, its catkins forming. The conifers begin their spring growth: Douglas-fir (the state tree) and grand fir buds swell, and western redcedar dusts the lowland forest with pollen. East of the Cascades, the ponderosa pine, western larch, and quaking aspen remain dormant, the larch and aspen weeks from their late-spring flush at altitude.
Weather & Daylight
Across Oregon, a typical March day averages a high near 50°F and a low near 30°F, with about 3.6 inches of precipitation — statewide averages from the 1991–2020 U.S. climate normals.
A tentative thaw arrives, 50-degree afternoons and cool 30-degree nights as showers start to feel more like spring rain.
| Average high | 50°F |
|---|---|
| Average low | 30°F |
| Precipitation | 3.6 in |
| Sunrise (mid-month) | 7:22 PT |
| Sunset (mid-month) | 19:13 PT |
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 (PT).
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One short note when Oregon's next month turns — what's arriving, blooming, and worth a night outside.
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Same month elsewhere: March in Pennsylvania · March in Rhode Island · March in South Carolina