Garden Calendar-February

  •Sow seeds indoors now through March for transplants to set outside after our last frost date (April 15-20).  Check the back of the seed packet for the approximate sowing time so the plants will be ready to set out when the temperature is right.  Choose from our large selection of Lake Valley Seeds, Renee’s Garden Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, and NEW Botanical Interests™ all organic seeds for vegetables, perennial and annual flowers, herbs, and organic seeds.  We know from experience that they have a very high germination rate and more seeds per packet.  Use Fertilome Seed and Cutting Mix to start the seeds and cover the seeds lightly with No Damp-Off Seed Starter to guard against “damping off” fungus which kills seedlings. Trays, inserts, clear dome lids, fish emulsion fertilizer, coir pellets, peat pots, CowPots™, heating mats, and grow lights are also available. You can do it - we’ll tell you how.

   •Trim back ornamental grasses to the ground by March 1 and remove the brown leaves to allow new growth to fill in this spring.  Tying the grasses with twine, rope, or bungee cords before cutting makes the job a little neater.

   •Remember March 1 as a good date for cutting back butterfly bushes (6-12” from the ground) and crapemyrtles if you wish to keep them shrub-like.  It is also time to trim back rose-of-sharon, hardy hibiscus, chaste trees, clethra, and  nandinas (heavenly bamboo) which have grown too tall. Wait until after blooming to cut back spring blooming shrubs which are overgrown.

   •Divide and transplant perennials now before they reach 3” tall for best results.  Once new growth emerges, use a sharp spade to dig up outer portions of perennials and move to a new location.  Use Fertilome Root Stimulator every 2 weeks.    

    •Plant trees and shrubs now using peat moss or compost, Bone & Bloodmeal, and Root Stimulator for a healthy start.  Most trees and shrubs are best planted when they are dormant so their energy is used for root growth and not immediately for leaves, flowers, and seeds.  Most new trees have arrived, and the final truckloads of trees will arrive in February which include dogwoods,redbuds, oaks, and hollies.  
      •February is National Bird Feeding Month!  Be sure to offer wild birds a complete feeding program including black oil sunflower seed or safflower in a tube feeder, a quality mix such as our Fancy Mix, Supreme Mix, Singin’Good Mix, Cardinal Formula, or Waste-free Mix in a platform feeder, suet, and open water. Use a birdbath with a heater or use our Solar Sipper portable watering station with a tough plastic cover that keeps water clean for a day's drinking while the patented top design keeps enough solar heat to keep water from freezing to 15 degrees F. all day in winter sun.

     •Keep indoor air cleaner by growing houseplants and placing them throughout your home.  We offer great houseplants such as areca palms, Aglaonema, pothos, fiddleleaf fig, peace lily,  Dracaena, Dieffenbachia, swedish ivy and many others to improve indoor air quality in homes or offices.  We also have African violets, cactus, aloe, ferns, amaryllis, and Christmas cactus in stock.