YARDEN” (YARD + GARDEN) NOTES FOR FEBRUARY 2020

Sponsored by Thomasville Garden Club Inc.

FEBRUARY WEATHER

According to U.S.climatedata.com, February brings an average high temperature of 68 degrees and an average low of 42 degrees. On average, we receive 4.72 inches of rain this month. Daylight hours number 11 (30 minutes more than last month).

Weather Spark says that our “cold season” lasts from November 30 to February 18 and that we are almost certain to have frost between December 10 and February 13 (but our risk of frost lasts almost a month longer).

Weather Spark calls February 26 the windiest day of the year for Thomasville, with an average wind speed of 7.0 miles per hour.

Again, according to Weather Spark, “The growing season in Thomasville typically lasts for 9.8 months (296 days), from around February 17 to around December 10.”

SPECIAL “YARDEN” DATES

Sunday, February 2 — Groundhog Day. Are we destined for six more weeks of winter? Only Punxsutawney Phil knows for sure. This superstition came with German settlers to Pennsylvania in the 1700s. In case you do not know, if Phil sees his shadow on February 2, we are due for six more weeks of winter; if he does not see his shadow (cloudy weather will prevent it) an early spring is predicted.

Friday, February 14 through Monday, February 17 — The 23rd annual Great Backyard Bird Count. Every February, anyone can participate in this free, fun and easy event that helps expand our understanding of birds. The objective is to count birds for as little as 15 minutes to as long as we wish on one or more days of the four-day event. The count can occur in our own backyard or anywhere else in the world! Then, we are asked to report our sightings online. Go to birdcount.org for more information.

Friday, February 21 — Arbor Day in Georgia. Because the best time to plant trees in Georgia is between November and mid-March, the third Friday in February was chosen to be celebrated as Arbor Day, annually. This date provides trees a chance to become established before our hot, dry summer is upon them.

Celebrate Arbor Day by planting a tree. Doing so, can beautify your landscape and also improve the air quality around your home, thereby impacting the health of your family.

From the Spring 2018 edition of The National Gardener: Trees impact human health. Dr, Geoffrey Donovan, a research forester at the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland, Oregon, studied the impact of the loss of trees upon the health of human beings. He discovered a relationship between a loss of trees in an environment and the existence of respiratory disease.

This makes sense because we know that trees remove waste particles from the air. Some sources say that mature trees absorb 120-240 pounds of particulate pollution annually.

I learned some fascinating facts: One human being breathes about 9.5 tons of air per year. However, oxygen makes up only about 23 percent of that air. A human extracts a little more than one-third of that oxygen from each breath of air he or she takes. That means each of us breathes about 163.142 pounds of oxygen a year — and that equates to the output of seven or eight trees. This causes me to wonder how many of us have enough trees on our property to sustain all the members of our family. Interesting concept, isn’t it?

Saturday, February 29 — Leap Day, the extra day that makes 2020 a Leap Year. In leap years, we receive an extra day at the end of February, giving us 29 days instead of the common 28 days. This occurs every four years in order to help synchronize the calendar with Earth’s orbit around the sun and the actual changing of the seasons. Earth’s orbit around the sun takes approximately 365.25 days and it is that extra one quarter of a day annually that makes a leap day necessary every four years. If there were no leap years, eventually February would be a summer month for the Northern Hemisphere.

Interestingly, Julius Caesar introduced the first leap day in his Julian Calendar in 45 AD and the ancient Roman Calendar added an extra month every few years to keep up with seasonal changes.

Advance Notice: Saturday, March 21 — Birdsong’s Old Timey Plant Sale. More information next month.

IN FLOWER

Trout lilies. Wolf Creek Trout Lily Preserve contains 140 acres of “tens of millions of beautiful yellow and maroon dimpled trout lilies and thousands of maroon spotted trillium.” It is the greatest expanse of these trout lilies in the entire world! If you have not seen this wonder, please do so this year. The preserve will open this month and might remain open through early March. The dates are dependent upon the lilies’ blooming.

Camellias. Our glorious Camellia Japonicas will continue to bloom all month. If you do not have one — or several — do not wait any longer. Camellias are the premier flowering plant of the South.

Taiwan cherries, Japanese magnolias and various bulbs have been blooming since January.

Look for “Summer Snowflakes” (Leucojum aestivum), which are actually misnamed because they bloom in late winter or very early spring and are dormant during the summer. I have a bed of these plants and love them. They have little bell-shaped flowers with green dots at the end of each petal. Summer snowflakes are charming and sweet perennials.

Look for Lenten roses, too. They bloom around Lent (the word Lent actually means spring) but they are not roses. They are perennials in the buttercup family and are commonly called hellebores. They form beautiful, colorful clumps and can become ground covers.

TO DO

Houseplants. This month or next, when houseplants begin to set new growth, fertilization can begin again.

Planting. It is very tempting to plant tomatoes, peppers and other summer vegetables too early. Air temperature should not be your planting guide. Soil temperature is what matters to those vegetables, most of which prefer soil temperatures of at least 55-60 degrees. Corn and okra prefer 65 degrees.

But, early this month you can be preparing your beds so you will be ready to plant those tomatoes, peppers and other veggies when the time is right.

If the ground can be worked, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage can be seeded directly into the soil around February 2. However, it is better to have started them indoors around January 5 and then you can transplant them into the garden around February 24. The same is true for lettuce and spinach.

Cool-season annuals such as pansies, dianthus, petunia and, snapdragons can be set out now. They will make a great display in late March, April and early May.

Try to complete transplantation of trees and shrubs early this month.

Pruning. This is NOT the time to prune spring-flowering plants; prune them only after they bloom. The exception is that you may — and should — prune any dead or diseased plant material at any time of the year.

When pruning, always leave the bottom of the plant larger than the top so that the plant forms a pyramid shape. An inverted triangular shape prevents light from reaching the bottom branches.

Prune summer-blooming shrubs and trees like crape myrtles, glossy abelia, grandiflora roses, tea olives. However, please be careful and selective. Avoid “crape murder” at all costs.

Prune apple and pear trees and grape vines before the end of the month.

You can prune up to one-fourth of the branches from overgrown fig bushes but concentrate on keeping the horizontal branches. Be careful not to remove more than one-fourth or you will reduce the production of fruit.

Prune roses in mid-February. A good way to remember this is to think of Valentine’s Day and the popularity of roses on that date. Cut them back to just above a five-leaf set, rather than a three-leaf set. “Leaf sets” are located beside a bud which will send up a shoot. Five-leaf sets will send up shoots that bear stronger, healthier flowers than three-leaf sets.

Prune butterfly bushes to produce blooms, which are formed on the tips of new branches. Failure to prune them will create tall, lanky, unattractive bushes with few flowers. Cut the bush down to 12 inches tall now, even if you remove green leaves. Use a lopper to get down into the center of the clump and remove rotten wood. These suggestions will give you lots of vigorous new growth in April.

Nandina and beautyberry may be pruned by removing several of the older canes. Prune these older canes near ground level.

Most evergreens can be pruned late in the month.

FEBRUARY QUOTE

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” — An old Chinese proverb.

Pat Pankey writes this column for Thomasville Garden Club Inc. as a service to the community. Thomasville Garden Club Inc. welcomes new members. If you are interested, please contact Membership Chair Julie Feinberg (229) 224-5771 or any current member. The Garden Center has a library of books about gardening that are available not only to garden club members but also to the general public. To access the library or to visit the Garden Center, please contact Caroline Flowers (229) 200-9197 or any current member. You may contact Linda and Joe Tarver (229) 403-1187 if you are interested in renting the Garden Center for an event. The Garden Center is always open to the public on the Wednesday before the first Friday of every month, September through May. Please visit our website at www.thomasvillegardenclub.org and find us on Facebook.