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www.gaygardener.com
©2002 Gay Gardener
All Rights Reserved
February 2nd is the day for the ground-dwelling, bucktoothed critter known as the ground hog, to come out of his burrow and tell us what kind of weather we will have.
If the day is sunny, the ground hog will see his shadow and there will be six more weeks of winter. If the sky is cloudy, there will be no shadow, and the ground hog will stay above ground because an early spring is coming.
This year our ground hog legend in Central PA, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and you know what that means folks, six more weeks of winter.
FOR A HINT OF SPRINGIf you are ready for spring but it hasn't arrived in your area yet, here is something you can do to brighten up your home. Branches of your favorite flowering trees and shrubs can be cut and forced into bloom indoors.
It is very easy to do but there are a few important details. When you are cutting the branches of forsythia, quince, pussy willow, or spirea, always cut the shrub with an eye towards improving the symmetry of the plant. This type of pruning will help to keep the plants shapley.
Once you have the branches indoors, place them in a tub of water so they are completely submerged. This helps to clean off the bark and also softens up the buds scales.
This step is not essential, but many say it hastens the bloom. The stems will force just as well if they are placed in a deep container of warm water.
Sometimes your buds are lazy and will not open up for two, maybe three weeks. The reasons are very simple. The closer it is to the shrub&$039;s normal flowering time outdoors, the more quickly the buds will open up indoors.
Forsythia, quince, and pussy willow branches brought in towards the end of February should open up quickly. For apple, dogwood, peach, plum and lilac, you should wait until about the middle of March before cutting them and bringing them indoors to force for blooms.
GOOD NEWSThe mail carriers should be bringing you all of the new seed and nursery catalogues. As winter-weary gardeners we jump right to dreams of what we think might look good in our own gardens, without giving much thought to where we will plant them or the weeding, cultivating, and watering these new plants will need in the summer.
As you are paging through them if something catches your eye, try to plan where you will grow them, before ordering from the catalogue. If you buy things you like and don't have a plan for where to plant them, at proper shipping time in your area, you can quickly get overwelmed when your order arrives and you have to get all the stuff planted.
To Do List
- February -
- Sow parsley indoors for use in the kitchen
- Celery, Cabbage, and Onions for early crop can be sown indoors now
- Take leaf cuttings of African violets
- Brush heavy snow from evergreens with a broom
- Examine trees and shrubs for winter damage...prune any split or broken branches
- Check for any plants that may have been heaved out of the ground by frost--push them back in and cover well
- Place cyclamens in a cool room and keep the soil moist
- Stock up on your seed starting needs..peat pots, potting soils ect.
- Start gloxinias in a moist soil mixture
- Transplant begonia and coleus seedlings when their second pair of true leaves appear
- Use sand instead of salt on icy sidewalks
- Tie down any climbing rose branches whipping in the wind
- When poinsettias drop their leaves, stop watering, put in cool place to rest
- If Christmas cactus is still blooming, give it a half cup of water every three days
- See that bird feeding stations are kept filled
- These gardenless days are a good time to plan any changes to beds and borders
- Spray fruit trees with dormant oil
- Try and attend more meetings of your local garden club
- Now is the time to prune apples, pears, and grapes
- Towards the end of the month start your snapdragons, petunias, and lobelia seeds indoors