February Garden and Greenhouse Ramblings

I was pretty excited about the month of February getting here, warm temps, gardening chores to do... and then we heard that snow was coming our way... yet again! Yikes!

All this wintry weather in our mild coastal area this year ~ super weird! And super unwanted ; )

Clean out any wilted, frozen veggies ... like this celery. 

So, what can you do in the yard and garden this time of year, despite the snow and cool temps?

- Start warming up by pruning all your fruit trees

- Prune roses down to a height of 12" to 18". This will promote lots of fantastic new growth and blooms this spring and summer.

- Now is also a good time to spray both roses and fruit trees with a dormant oil and lime sulphur mix to choke out pests and fungal diseases.

- When the snow melts, remove perennial weeds now before they go to seed and spread like mad.

- If you did not have time to top dress your beds in fall, you still have time. Top dress with manure or compost, test for nutrients and amend, if needed, with bonemeal, alfalfa, bloodmeal, rock phophates, etc...

- Clean your garden beds of any veggies that did not handle the cold snap well, mushy beets or carrots, or wilted celery.

A few tomato seeds.... 

Indoors...

- Is still garden planning and ordering time!

The back of the seed package gives you lots of information... like when to start them ; ) 

 Greenhouse Ramblings...   

Seeds that you can start this month.

Read the back of your seed package. You can start anything now that says to start 12 weeks before last frost date. At the end of the month, you can start any seeds that say to start 8 weeks before.

Do not start anything that says less than that, things like tomatoes or cucumbers, is much too soon. They will be stretched out and unhappy plants by the time they finally get to go outdoors. Unhappy plants are much more prone to pest damage than strong, healthy ones.

That said, what seeds can you start now?   

- Asparagus. It will take you 5 years till harvest, but you can certainly start asparagus from seeds).
- Artichokes.
- Brassicas as the end of the month.
- Hot peppers and eggplants.
- Leeks (but hurry!)
- Onions from seed or set.
- Greens of all kind ...lettuce, spinach, mustard, arugula...
- Peas. I always direct sow mine, but if you prefer to plant starters, now is the time to sow.

Herbs...  of all kinds, especially perennials like parsley, oregano, and thyme.

Flowers... petunias, geraniums, verbena, pansies, violas, lobelia, snapdragons, sweet peas.

Keep an eye on your bulbs, roots and corms, like dahlias, canna or calla lilies, etc... When they start to sprout, is time to pot them up.

  

Grey skies and another snow day to start off our February gardening ; ) 

Happy growing till sunnier skies...