Mid-Atlantic Gardener's February Checklist

February from the Mid-Atlantic is when winter really shows up. It is cold and freezing, and the snow falls in drifts, then for a few days there’s a fracture and the entire earth thaws. Obviously, that means, slushy, gloomy and muddy gardens, waterlogged plants. It is certainly not a banner month in the garden.

This month I’ve decided I am completed with winter. I am finished with last year’s growing cycle, and I am ready for the new and fresh growth to come. This month I am looking ahead toward spring, enjoying the little bit of green I can grow inside and counting the days until the robins come house.

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Amy Renea

Enjoy the last leaves. A few stalwart trees are hanging onto their own last leaves regardless of the insistence of rain, sleet, ice and hail. Pretty soon even these can give up the ghost and measure out of the way for new growth, but for now they appear to still observe the year gone by.

Amy Renea

Break out the plans and seeds. I am done with all the year gone by and am starting to ache for spring. The snow has gone from fun and fluffy to slushy and gross here at the Mid-Atlantic, and I am ready to proceed. That means breaking out those garden plans again, together with seed packets, to strategy, plan, plan.

Barbara Pintozzi

First on this list? Poppies! I was out this morning direct-sowing poppies from the snow. Hardy seeds such as poppies require a bit of this freeze-thaw cycle to rapidly and readily germinate in spring.

Amy Renea

I will begin different seeds after this month in paper pots. Filled with soilless newcomer, these little pots will be the basis of the summer annual garden filled with bachelor’s buttons, sunflowers and zinnias.

Amy Renea

Grow plants inside. I can not stand the absence of green, therefore with all the outdoors completely inhospitable to plant growth, I have to grow plants inside. Many herbaceous plants are tough enough to grow inside for a few months, and purslane might be the toughest of all. This stylish, acidic accession to gourmet dishes can be considered as a weed, and it grows like one. One plant inside will keep you stocked.

Amy Renea

I also like to plant in my pantry just about whatever crosses my path in winter. A popular are the tops of pineapples! Chopped off like ordinary and implanted, these pineapple heads will perish, then regrow to a pretty houseplant. If you want to see another pineapple, however, you’d need a very major pot and massive amounts of sunshine.

Amy Renea

Ginger is another pantry plant of mine. Simply plant a chunk of fresh ginger that has a few nodes (the little bumps) on it. Don’t peel the sides; just chop off a piece and plant it.

Amy Renea

Several weeks after, amazing ginger leaves will bust up those winter doldrums at no charge!

Amy Renea

Savor teatime. Another favourite activity each winter is to use up all the tea I’ve saved and dried. Peppermint is typically my leaf of choice, appreciated with some honey.

Amy Renea

Obviously, these winter activities are just the precursor for what will come in the garden in just a few more months.

Spring is on its way, and that I, for one, am ready. I am watching those fuzzy magnolia buds to your very first crack and hint of pink, scanning the ground each morning to the first signals of crocus and snowdrop, and listening to the birds that have started reappearing to scope out new nesting spots. It might seem like winter is pulling, but spring is marching toward us like a grand parade. Get these garden boots ready. It is time!

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