February Garden Ramblings

February sometimes feels like the longest of months for us gardeners. We are raring to go, to seed and plant and dig in the soil. Days are getting longer and brighter. Seed catalogues and magazines keep flowing in, flaunting gardens bursting with colourful flowers and veggies.... 

And yet, sadly, the cool, wet, rainy season is still in full swing here on the island while snow covers the ground in the rest of the country. Snow storms, blizzards, hail, ice storms, and snow, plus more snow, are not just a possibility in February, they are almost a certainty.  

So, what's a gardener to do this month?  

Pinch back winter pansies for new growth and tons of flowers in 4 to 6 weeks time. .
Clean up any fallen leaves from around the base of your roses, trees and shrubs (prevent pests and disease)
Prune your trees and fruit trees this month! Also black currants and gooseberries.

Spray fruit trees, fruiting shrubs, roses, cotoneaster hedges, etc.. with a Dormant Spray (horticultural oil/lime sulfer mix) to kill over-wintering pests and diseases. The oil smothers eggs and pests while the sulfer is a natural fungicide. Spray before bud break! and follow directions on the package.  
Sow radishes, spinach and other greens in the unheated greenhouse or out in the garden. 
When your peas and sweet peas start to come up, cover with frost blankets or branches, etc.. to protect the tender, fresh, new, green growth from the birds and rabbits. They really enjoy the taste of those tasty new seedlings ; ) 
Put out birdseed wreaths, fill feeders, have water for the birds to drink, and clean out birdhouses in preparation for spring.
Dividing your rhubarb? Take a chunk of the root to force in a pot for earlier and sweeter rhubarb.If you have not already done so, prune your roses, taking out the 3 D's (dead, damaged or diseased) and cutting them back so that they will not get damaged by heavy, wet snowfalls, should you get some.

Wash walls of greenhouse or cold frame.
Wash pots and seed starting equipment.
Begin to tidy, clean, and organise the glass house, greenhouse, cold frame, garden shed, etc.. for the season ahead.

What to do in the greenhouse, sunroom, porch, cold frame ...

Bring potted strawberries into a warmer and brighter location so that they start to fruit earlier.
Bring spring planters, potted tulips and daffs, in for earlier blooms.
Plant your rhubarb in a pot and bring in to enjoy several weeks earlier.
Towards the end of the month, plant your dahlias, canna lilies, calla lilies, begonias, etc..in pots for earlier blooms. Transplant into the garden in May.

What to do indoors with a cup of tea or a glass of wine this month?
Consider and plan what you want to grow in your garden this year.. What do you like to eat? What do you want to 'put up' or can/process, what do you want to store or freeze.
Go through seed and garden catalogues, order your seeds, summer flowering bulbs (glad, dahlias, lilies...) tools, heat pads, seed cups, pots, etc...

Check your journal from last year for successes and failures, plan the changes you want to make this year, jot down garden plans, ideas, hopes and dreams for this years garden ...

Save a bunch of money by doing an inventory your seeds so that you do not re-order what you already have on hand.

What do I Journal and Plan For? 
Besides the actual growing bit, this is one of my favourite thing to do....
I haul out all my seed catalogues, my garden mags, favourite garden pics from magazines, and my journal.
Then I start to plan ....

I think about what I want to grow this year, what I want to eat, can and freeze.
What to grow for the greenhouse ( I generally grow what I love, sticking to plants that I am passionate about).
What to grow for baby girl (my adult daughter and her family), my friends, my neighbours....

I also pick out a colour story for the yard/potager ... hues of blues and purples this year, maybe? Or pinks and whites? Maybe purple and lime green and lots of crisp whites! 

Make a garden plan to plot out what goes where even though, truth is, I rarely stick with exactly what I planned in the journal. Not the colour story nor the garden plan, not even the plantings. Some fun, new or unique veggie, flower, seed, plant or colour will catch my eye and there goes the plan. However, it is still time well spent for I do not throw away the whole plan, I just make changes to it. Besides, it makes it possible for me to order the right seeds, roots, bulbs and supplies.

Some tips for making your garden plans ...

Do not grow what the family does not eat. It may look great in the pictures, you might want them to eat it, but if they don't like it, it is a waste of time, money and space. Go buy that veggie from the farmers market instead, for the one person who does eat it. This is what I now do with parsnips. I love them but no one else does. 

Some folks grow stuff that tends to be fairly pricey to buy (think tomatoes, garlic, asparagus...) and pick up the cheaper items (spuds, onions, or lettuce, etc...) at the grocers or farmers markets. Good usage of limited growing space.

Consider what you want to do with the veggies so that you grow enough... If you are making your own ketchup, tomato sauce, or salsa, as well as fresh eating, then you will need to grow lots of tomatoes, esp of the paste or beefsteak variety. Making sauerkraut, cabbage rolls, and coleslaw? Grow lots of cabbage. Grow lots of onions, hot peppers, beans, etc... if you use them in everything you eat or process. Do your dogs love carrots as much as mine do? Grow succession crops, seeding a few rows several times a year.

Know where your light is coming from and place tall plants so that they do not shade the shorter ones... or plan for them to do so, if you need to create some shade for your summer lettuce, radishes, spinach ... stuff that bolts in the heat.

What to sow/grow in February? 

Try to restrain yourself from starting your seeds too early.
Plan on paper, dream in journals, pin on Pinterest, but please do not start planting your warm weather seeds (like tomatoes) yet. Early seedlings will not fruit earlier but will instead be weak, spindly, stretched out plants by the time you actually go to plant them outside, sometime around Mother's Day. 

To know when to start seeding, look a the back of the seed package. There you will find listed how many weeks before last frost you should start those particular seeds. Here in Nanaimo our last frost date is April 28th. As the majority of seeds are started 4 to 8 weeks before last frost, that means that next month, mid to late March, is when you will be doing most of your seeding.   

Here are the crops that you can start indoors now....

- Cruciferous crops like collards, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower.
- Brussels sprouts, onion seeds, leeks, artichokes, and kale.
- Salad greens and spinach. Stick to greens that are cold hardy for planting in Feb and March.   
- Herbs to start now are chives, parsley, lavender, coriander/cilantro, nepeta (catnip), and mint.
- Peppers and Eggplants

- Onions, leeks

- Artichokes

- Asparagus (Yes, they grow well from seed, however, will be 5 years till you harvest!)

- Flowers from seed .... petunias, geraniums, verbena, pansies and violas, lobelia, snapdragons, sweet peas...In all actuality, the flowers that you can start now, from seed, are too numerous to mention. Check the back of your packages. Please remember though, that unless you have a great light source, you will not have saved any money by starting them yourself. Tall, stretched-out, spindly, weak seedlings will not look good, nor will they thrive. A south facing window is not enough, you will need to use grow lights set just a few inches above your seedlings.... or then, winter sow!

This month, you can start anything that says to be started 8 to 12 weeks before last frost, pretty much regardless of where you live. Many seeds packets will say 6 to 8 weeks before last frost, start those this month. 

Remember to leave your raspberry canes, perennials, and such up for a little bit longer yet. Ideally, do that clean up in late February or early March, when temps are closer to +10C during the day so that the hibernating critters have left their little hidey holes. 

Looking forward to spring. Till then... catalogues ; ) Tanja