Prepare in dull February for brighter months ahead
Gloomy, cold and with spring realistically still a couple of months away, February is not my favourite month of the year. But any winter blues can easily be countered by venturing outside now to make preparations for the growing season ahead, and discovering some of the most beguiling flowers the garden has to offer at any time of year.
I love the extraordinary variety of the Lenten rose (Helleborus x hybridus), with flowers from white and yellow through pink to almost black, nodding on stems around 30cm tall. Peep underneath and marvel at the beautiful central cluster of yellow stamens and green nectaries, sometimes surrounded by a delicate pattern of dark spots on the petals. Cut back their glossy evergreen leaves for the best view of the flowers, and head to a nursery with a good selection to choose your favourites while they are in bloom. Snowdrops are also at their best this month and for galanthophiles with an eye for detail there is an almost infinite array of subtly different varieties to covet and collect. They grow from bulbs, but are best planted ‘in the green’ while in growth, so add more to the garden this month. Clumps can easily be split and spread around or swapped with friends once flowering is over.
Remove any remaining fallen leaves and old growth around perennials to make way for the new shoots that will start to appear next month. Any weeds can then be uprooted and borders will be ready to mulch with a generous layer of well-rotted compost in March. Finish any
For galanthophiles there is an almost infinite array of varieties to collect
pruning of deciduous trees and shrubs this month, while they remain dormant, and remember to prune wisteria too. Their long, leafy shoots should have been shortened at the end of summer and now need to be cut back to two or three dark, pointed leaf buds to keep the plant tidy.
This is also the time to get preparations underway in the vegetable garden. Chit seed potatoes indoors somewhere cool and light, by standing them in egg boxes or seed trays and allowing short, stout shoots to develop before planting. Begin weeding and preparing seedbeds and warm them under plastic sheets or cloches for early sowings. If soil is not frozen or sodden, garlic and onion sets can be planted outdoors this month, and many other crops, such as early peas, broad beans, radishes, leeks and salads can be sown early in a greenhouse. It’s also worth starting real heat-lovers, like chillies and aubergines, in a heated propagator during February to give them the longest growing season possible to ripen a crop.