February Gardening Calendar 2026

 

February Gardening Calendar 2026

Spring is near when the Daffodils start blooming.

 

This winter has come in with a vengeance bringing snow to parts of the United States that usually will receive no snow at all. As I write, North Carolina received more snow last night and the state hadn’t finished cleaning up since the last storm. Gardening is the last thing on anybody’s mind right now. As the snow melts and the temperatures begin to rise we gardener’s can start focusing on our gardens. Successful gardening depends on the timing of when you plant and prune established and new plants. Here are a few suggestions to do in February when your weather permits.

Trees and Shrubs can be planted now. This is the best time to plant Nut Trees, Fruit Trees, Shade Trees, and shrubs. By applying a combination of Super Thrive and Recharge by Real Growers instead of a root stimulator will get your newly planted trees and shrubs established much faster. Prune Apple and Pear trees after bud break in February, wait until mid-March for Peach trees. Spray fruit and nut trees with a horticulture grade dormant oil before bud break. Remove stakes, trunk wraps, and guy wires from trees planted 18 months ago. 18-24 months is the average time you need to keep the guy wires. Pruning fig trees save the horizontal branches, they are the branches that produce fruit. Is your Burford Holly overgrown? Now is a good time to severely prune back. Burford Hollies can be prune back to 24 to 48 inches. Butterfly bushes can be pruned back by ½ the original height. You will be rewarded with bigger blooms this summer.

Annuals cool season annuals can be planted, pansy, violas, sweet alyssum, pinks, stocks, snapdragons. Cool season annuals will provide lots of color until end of May or June. These annuals can be planted in the soil or containers.

Perennials trim back all the brown. This month is a good time to divide all perennials, if necessary. Apply a fresh layer of mulch.

Roses Prune back rose bushes to about 18 to 24 inches. The best time to prune is between February 14 – 22^th. Rake any leaves still on the ground underneath your rose bushes and give a fresh layer of mulch. If you had any black spot last year it is very important to rake the leaves and throw the leaves away and give a fresh layer of mulch. For more information on roses and rose care Click Here.

Lawns apply a pre-emergent to your lawn to prevent dormant weed seeds from germinating during the growing season. Most pre-emergents last about 3 to 4 months. There are weed and feed fertilizers that will fertilize the lawn and prevent weed seeds from germinating.

Vegetables cool season veggies like lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, asparagus, elephant garlic, garlic, snow peas, spinach, and strawberries can still be planted. To get a head start on your spring garden start thinking about planting your spring vegetable garden from seeds now. Organically grown Lettuce image left. ©Cheryl Ann Meola 2012. Organically grown Tomatoes image below ©Cheryl Ann Meola 2012 

Ornamental Grasses can be pruned back to 12 inches. Liriope that looks a little be draggled can be trimmed back, too. Prune back before the grass comes out of dormancy.

Houseplants In the winter months houseplants usually don’t require as much water as in the spring and summer months indoors. The reason is that the houseplant do not receive as much sunlight because of shorter and more cloudy days associated with the winter months.  Water with a houseplant fertilizer one half strength and turn your plants a ¼ to a ½ turn every week. By doing this the plant does not grow towards the light. For more information on Houseplants and their care purchase my book sold on Hibiscus And More. https://www.hibiscusandmore.com/product/grow-fresh-air Purchase here on the link provided.

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Photography and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola 2012. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this article are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated ©Cheryl Ann Meola 2012. Texas Certified Nursery Professional #1282.

April Gardening Calendar

                                  April Gardening Calendar

Start planning for Spring. April is the perfect month to start planning your garden for the current year. As a refresher for last year’s thoughts, ideas or plants you were thinking about purchasing, dust off your gardening journal to see what changes or additions you wanted to make this year. A garden is always evolving.

Irrigation: In zones where your irrigation was turned off for the winter. Irrigation should be checked each year in spring. Turn on the irrigation to make sure the irrigation heads are working properly. Check for leaks, cracked heads, and spray direction. Some issues you may be able to fix yourself, if not call an irrigation specialist.

Roses: Your roses should be trimmed between February 12 – 20, if you have not pruned your hybrid tea roses it’s not too late to trim them now. For more information on trimming, caring, and fertilizing your roses click on my blog article on Rose Care.

Vegetable Gardening: Till the soil when you have a designated area for vegetables in your garden. This preventative measure helps to eliminate weeds, insects, and nematodes. Don’t have room for a vegetable garden, but would like to grow your own vegetables? All vegetables can be grown in large planters. The recommended size for vegetables is 16 inches or larger. In fact, that’s how I grow my vegetables each season. Garden center retailers are still reporting skyrocketing sales for vegetable starts and seeds this year versus last year’s sales. Start planning and planting your vegetable garden now to reap the rewards of homegrown vegetables, if you are thinking about having a vegetable garden this year, today is the time to start. Put on your gardening gloves and reap the rewards and benefits of a spring vegetable garden. For more information on Spring VegetableGardening Click Here.

Color Annuals: April is the month to start thinking about replacing your cool weather color annuals with spring and summer annuals. Here are a few of my favorites: Caladiums, Celosia, Coleus, Cosmos, Dahlberg Daisy, Dusty Miller, Gazania, Geranium, Gerbera Daisy, Ivy Geranium, Lantana, Marigolds, Mexican Sunflower, Moss Rose, Periwinkle, Petunia, Primrose, Purslane, Salvia, Snapdragons, Verbena, Wax Begonia, and Zinnia. All of the annuals mentioned can be planted in soil or in containers.

Bulbs: If you have spring bulbs that are still blooming you may want to enjoy a few of the flowers as fresh cuts indoors. On all perennial bulbs, let the foliage die back naturally, as the foliage dies the bulb transports the nutrients from the foliage to the bulb and will use the nutrients from the foliage and stores the nutrients to the bulb for next year’s growth and flowers. As the foliage dies and it may look untidy and displeasing. To alleviate this annoyance, you can pull up the foliage in a bunch and then roll the foliage down as you would a paper bag, and then tie the rolled-up foliage with a rubber band.

Shrubs: Trim your spring flowering shrubs after they finish blooming and fertilize with the appropriate plant food.

Azaleas: Once your azaleas finish blooming trim back to shape. Azaleas bloom on last year’s growth so it is important to trim your Azaleas no later than the middle of June. Azalea’s set their blooms during the fall months, and this is one reason to trim your Azaleas during the time frame that is provided. After pruning your Azaleas, you need to fertilize them with an Azalea plant food and also add a new layer of mulch. Instead of throwing your spent coffee or tea grounds away your Azaleas will benefit from sprinkling the grounds around your Azalea bushes. 

Prune Pampas Grass and other ornamental grasses trim to about 12 to 24 inches. Prune Lantana and Cannas to about 6 to 10 inches. Shape Crepe Myrtles and Altheas and remove old seed heads. Do not hat rack the Crepe Myrtles. Crepe Myrtles do better without being trimmed to 4 – 6 feet above the ground.

Decorate Your Patio With Tropical Color: Now is the time to start thinking about spring-cleaning your patio and your patio furniture. After sprucing up your patio you may want to redecorate the patio for summer fun with tropical plants that really know how to beat the summer heat. Tropical plants will bloom repeatedly throughout the summer until first frost. Here are a few of my tropical color favorites: Allamanda, Bougainvillea, Copper Plant, Hibiscus, Mandevilla, Pentas, and Shrimp Plant. Hibiscusandmore.com features fine art prints of tropical plants. Click Here Fine Art Prints.

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