Posted on 02/01/2008 6:27:10 AM PST by Gabz
Aren’t you glad that February is our shortest month? Whoever designed the calendar knew well what they were doing. February is dark and drear, cold and melancholy. A time for staying indoors and hiding like a bear, dreaming of warmer weather and sunshine, of flowers and green, growing things. The sooner it’s over, the better. Maybe this February won’t be so bad. Can you believe that some of the trees still had leaves well into January? On the other hand, did you notice how heavy the hollies and pyracantha were loaded with berries this year? Wonder if that portends cold yet to come or just acknowledges the fact that we had an extremely wet summer and the plants took advantage of it? Although, we had almost as much rain the two previous years and they didn’t show fruit like they’re doing this year. We’ll just have to wait and see. Put some bird seed out and feed our feathered friends! Their bright colors and amusing antics are as good as any circus.
Did you ever wonder why the same plant can have so many different names? Plants can be named for place of origin or color (Texas Bluebonnets), growth habit (giant, dwarf, creeping, weeping), fragrance (Banana shrub), and many carry local names as well (myrkle bushes). It can be very confusing! The same common name may apply to dozens of different plants, depending on where you live and what plants are grown in your area. That’s why, if you want the true name of a plant, most horticulturists use the Latin names. The Latin names tell you a great deal about the plant, although they are not always the descriptive names we tend to love. Lupinus texensis is the Latin name for Texas Bluebonnets. Lupinus means the plant is a member of the lupines, plants which have pea-like blooms. Texensis means it comes from Texas. The common name, Bluebonnet is said to come from the fact that they resemble a woman’s sunbonnet, blue of course! While descriptive names are much prettier, and more beloved, Latin names don’t change from one area to another. So Acer rubrum is always red maple, no matter where you live. Acer meaning maple, rubrum describing the color. Quercus is always oak, with all its many different varieties . Japonica tells you where the plant originated, in this case, Japan, or Chinensis, China. Latin names are used to classify plants and to identify them. Don’t worry if you’re not sure how to pronounce the Latin names, no one else is either!
Asparagus is one of the oldest vegetables known to man, and you either love it or hate it. It’s also one of the few perennial vegetables. (Can you think of another? Hint: it’s more of a northern crop, not liking our heat and humidity. It is used to make pies and jams, among other things.) The Romans recorded methods for growing asparagus and recipes for cooking it, and Caesar Augustus described “haste” as being quicker than you can cook asparagus. Asparagus likes rich soil with lots of compost. Pick a sunny spot you don’t plan to use for anything else, as asparagus beds can last 15 to 25 years, sometimes even longer. Dig a trench in well composted soil, anywhere from four to ten inches deep and allowing about 18 inches of space between plants. Asparagus is usually planted from one year old crowns, or root masses. Cover the plants at first with a just a couple inches of soil, gradually adding more throughout the summer, until the trench is filled. Sadly, you don’t get to harvest the first year. Some sources say harvest the second year is fine, some say wait until the third year. Like growing anything else, theories abound. Go with whatever works best for you. Asparagus plants are beautiful, lacy looking additions to any garden or flowerbed. (Think asparagus fern.) Plant some now and see what happens next year!
There are lots of things that need doing this month, if you can dredge up the energy and enough daylight. Fruit trees and shrubs need to be sprayed with dormant oil to kill any over wintering pests. Remember to fertilize your pecan trees this month using a 10-10-10 with added zinc, one to two pounds of fertilizer per inch of trunk diameter at breast height. That means, if your pecan tree trunk, measured about four feet off the ground, is ten inches thick, then you would use ten to twenty pounds of fertilizer. Spread it out to the dripline, which encompasses the area beneath the tree’s branches. If you haven’t pruned your roses yet, it’s not too late, especially since some of them still carried leaves last month. Prune bush type roses back to about 18 inches. Climbers don’t need to be pruned unless they are dead, diseased, or in your way. Martin scouts will be showing back up in late February or early March, depending on the weather, so get your Martin houses cleaned and put back up. If you haven’t done so already, send soil samples to the state college so you know how much fertilizer and what kind you need. After all the rain last year, the soil is really depleted. Sample boxes can be picked up at local garden centers or at the Ag Extension office. This service is free, except for the postage.
If you’re going to plant an early garden, now is the time. Things you want to get planted this month include; cabbage, broccoli, onions, peas, Vidalia’s, potatoes, snow peas, beets, carrots, rutabagas, and turnips.
If the dreary weather is getting you down, take heart! Soon Daffodils, Forsythia, and Hyacinths will be blooming, the first of the spring birds will be showing back up, and warmer, greener days will be close at hand.
How big of an area are you gardening?
I have a lot of questions for everyone, being the newbie to gardening that I am.
...meaning no freeze=big Texas bug problems.
You’re plan sounds SUPER. And I thoroughly agree with you about it needs to be fun and not cost prohibitive.
The year I tried berries was a financial disaster, even though I had gottent them all at half price, losing a dozen berry bushes and 100 strawberry plants was a major OUCH on the pocket.
Are you cutting the netting off the peat pellets before you transplant? You have to be careful and not hurt the roots if they are coming through...
It’s the middle of winter, so if we’re gonna get wet stuff from the sky — I would personally prefer snow!
Should I be removing it?
That’s a new catalog for me, thanks for the link.
So far, so good.
Last year I decided to buy two jumbo packs of Burpee seeds—one annuals and one herbs—and just throw them on a pile of dirt left over from hardscaping, just to disguise it.
Well, I got the best garden ever. Towering cosmos, oodles of marigolds, knockout zinnias, etc. The herbs were just as pretty—blue borage and purple basil; lavender chives and golden nasturtium.
The seed packets were five bucks apiece at K-Mart. Complete with layout designs and plant markers. Great for beginners.
This plot, at the back of my property, was prettier than the fussy formal gardens up front.
Isn’t that just the way it goes?
We have 4 beds that are about six foot wide by 100 feet long......I filled the beds with just sand manure and peat and compost over time. We don’t soak the beds, we have drip irrigation and watch the plants .......more equals bugs and such and less equals slow growing bad looking plants. Each garden is different.
I did have a faucet plumbed into each bed so a timer on or little rainbird drippers comes off that. As well consider your regions freeze and be able to drain your irrigation drippers or faucets in the fall to prevent bursting in extreme cold.
Takes some time for the first one but worth decades of easy use later.
Don’t line the beds as that will allow drainage is ya water too much.
Did they freeze ?
I always liked those peat pellets, but don’t use them anymore because they started getting cost prohibitive. I just use a good quality potting soil (whatever is cheapest in WalMart or Lowe’s) in pots I make from news paper.
I love Jerry Baker and his tonics and have had good luck with several of them. One of the great things about them is they are made with everyday household items.
A. Seed and Soil Energizer
1tsp whiskey
1tsp ammonia
1tsp dishwashing liquid
1 quart weak tea water (soak a used tea bag with a tsp of dishsoap in a gallon of water until light brown)
Mix these ingredients in a bucket (I use milk containers) and pour into a handheld sprayer. Shake and apply a good misting to surface of newly planted seed beds or containers.
B. Seedling Saver Solution
4 tsp chamomile tea leaves
1 tsp dishwashing liquid
1 quart boiling water
Mix all and let steep for an hour. Strain out solids and pour into hand held sprayer. Mist seedlings as soon as they poke through the surface
C. Tough Love for Transplants
Just before you transplant your vegetable seedlings, spray them with a solution of 2 ounces salt or baking powder per gallon of water. This temporarily stops their growth and increase their strength, so they stand up to the challenging conditions they’ll face outdoors.
That sounds great.
I got my daughter a bunch of large packets of mixed wildflowers and let her put them wherever she wanted...........she scattered several packets around the base of the utility pole out front, it sure looked pretty, I hope she wants to do it again this year.
Thanks. My wife will be interested to hear that. She prefers the flowers. I told her she does the work, she can plant anything she wants. Your plan will make her smile.
No, they didn’t freeze, I think I may have waited too long to get them in. because nothing every happened once they got planted.
Spring plant, harvest in late may early june..... dry sandy soil amended with compost is best and also never plant strawberries where ya plant something else like tomatoes an such as the berry’s don’t like that and will die / rot get sick and such.
We use old wine barrels we cut holes in the sides . Plant in those and on top. I have a cement mixer I use to “make dirt” ......12 shovel’s of this , 2 shovel’s of that sort of recipe. Also with regards to good berry’s get a Soil Ph tester and after ya make your dirt lest it rest for a few days and test it before ya fill the barrel planting bed.
About 5.5 to 6.0 on the Ph level is best per my experience. When yer dirt is there fill the barrel and drill the holes in the side , 2 inch hole saw is what I use. Jam in a seed spike ream it around to make a planting hole and plant .
I usually hit em with a spray of the hose in the AM and the drippers in the evening. Once ya get some berry’s on the plants start watering em a little more and watch the birds. Ya may have to throw some pest mesh over the barrels when berries form if ya have lots of birds in the garden.
Also don;t put the wood wine barrels in the dirt as the bottom will rot. Place it empty on a few blocks or flag stones then fill it. As too the number of plants....as many as ya want or your barrel will allow holes to be cut.
The barrels actually look neat when they are done right. Ours reside as deck plants on our patio. They smell good and the color looks good. Easier to look after.
Sounds most interesting...
Here are instructions or making them Origami style: How to make a newspaper pot for starting seeds
I like the doohickey think I use. You wrap a strip of paper around it then squish in into a wooden base, sort of like a mortar and pestle.
Radar map is showing some heavier precip moving in. It’s only 30 out by our thermometer.
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