10 Gardening Activities for February in the South

1. Install Landscape Roses

Landscape roses are often tough plants that need little care while providing continuous blooming that can last from June into September. Plant your landscape roses now so you’ll have blooms come June. Consider planting roses such as the Oso Easy series from Proven Winners or the Knockout or Drift series from Star Roses. From a design perspective, landscape roses often look best when planted in large drifts, groupings, or massed. They also grow particularly well on hillsides. Regan Nursery also stocks a wide variety of landscape roses.

2. Plant Bare-Root Fruit Trees & Berries

If you planned ahead, then you already have your bare-root fruit trees and berries and you’re ready to start planting. If not, then shop at a local nursery to see what’s available or get to shopping online (check out Raintree Nursery or Stark Bro's). Plant bare-root fruit trees and berries such as apples, pears, peaches, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, and more. Learn more about planting bare-root trees and shrubs at Gardener's Supply Company.

3. Tend to Hellebores & Plant More

In late winter or early spring when new hellebore growth and flowers emerge, cut back old foliage or any foliage that died over the winter. Cut foliage back to the ground, making sure not to cut new leaves or flower stalks (unless you mean to). This will make the flowers more visible and clean up the plant’s appearance. Hellebores can also be planted this time of year and are typically available at local nurseries. Shop for hellebores online at retailers such as Proven Winners.

4. Bring in Early Spring Blooming Branches

Flowering branches don’t take a lot of effort to force into bloom. In fact, if your flowering trees and shrubs are already blooming, simply cut a few branches, bring them indoors, and place them in a vase filled with water. Branches that are still in bud can also be cut and forced into bloom indoors. To do this, cut the branches and soak the branches and buds in room-temperature water overnight (roughly 8 hours in a bathtub will work). This will help stimulate flowering. Then recut stems and place them in a vase filled with cool water and floral preservative. Place the vase in a cool room out of direct sunlight until the flowers bloom. Then move them to a warmer location. Flowering branches that are best include saucer and star magnolia, forsythia, quince, flowering cherry, and crab apple. If you don’t have flowering trees and shrubs like these you can purchase branches online.

5. Plant Sweet Peas and other Annual Flowers

Sweet peas’ vibrant colors and often seductive fragrances make them a must for flower growers. They are great for planting over arbors and trellises or they can be grown up old fences and walls. To grow sweet peas, it’s often best to soak the seeds in water overnight (around 8 hours) before planting (or scuff the seed with a nail clipper). Floret has a good article on growing sweet peas from seed. Buy sweet pea seeds at your local garden center or visit Johnny's Selected Seeds, Floret, or Botanical Interests.

6. Transplant and Sow Cool-Season Crops

Starts of crops such as beets, cabbage, cauliflower, Swiss chard, kale, lettuce, leeks, mustard, and onion can likely be set out late this month. If you’re not sure of the appropriate time, use this planting calculator. Before moving starts outdoors, be sure to harden them off by moving them outdoors for several hours per day out of direct sunlight; then bring them in overnight. Do this each day for about a week as you extend the amount of time starts spend outdoors each day. There are some crops that grow better when they are direct sown: arugula, beans, carrots, parsnip, peas, radish, spinach, and turnips.

7. Start Summer Crops Indoors

Crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, eggplant, basil, and others can be started in seed trays indoors now. Grow seeds under an adjustable grow light or a stand with adjustable lights that will allow you to move the light closer to newly sprouted plants when they are young and then farther away as they mature. Using this type of grow light helps prevent leggy, unhealthy growth. If you’re not sure when to start seeds indoors, use this calculator and your average last frost date. Check out new tomato and pepper seeds available from Proven Winners.

8. Cut Back Ornamental Grasses

Too often, ornamental grasses get cut back in the fall or early winter which robs people of viewing the beautiful flower stalks all winter long. Instead, wait until late winter or early spring just before new growth emerges. This will mean the grasses will only look cut back for a few weeks before the foliage reappears. It’s also a good idea to add a layer of nitrogen-rich compost around ornamental grasses and water it in well to stimulate growth. You can also add ornamental grasses to your garden from February into April or May as long as the soil is workable. Shop for grasses online at Proven Winners. Order now and the plants will be shipped according to your growing zone. At that time, you should plant them immediately.

9. Divide Clumps of Snowdrops

Once flowering has finished, carefully dig up large clumps of snowdrops using a garden fork or spade. Dig around the clump, lift, and remove soil from around roots and bulbs. Separate the bulbs from each other. Replant individual bulbs or groups of bulbs around the garden in locations with shade, light shade, or filtered sun. If you don’t have a woodland setting in your garden, then plant them between shrubs or under and around trees that will provide some shade throughout the day.

10. Prune Vines & Winter-Blooming Shrubs

Late winter and early spring are pruning season for many vines and shrubs. You’ve likely already dormant pruned many of your main trees and shrubs. Now, prune back any winter-blooming shrubs that have finished flowering such as mahonia, winter jasmine, heathers, edgeworthia, daphnes, winter honeysuckle, and others. It’s also a good time to prune vines that have gotten too big. You do need to do some background research before pruning vines because various types can have different pruning methods. Read this vine-pruning guide from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden before getting started.