Support local journalism: Find offers for new subscribers here: Special Offers — FLORIDA TODAY.
Winter feels like it has just arrived, and most likely there are more cold fronts in our future. At least the days are slowly getting longer, which is wonderful.
The weather is usually nice for working outside this month, so check out the following suggestions for things to do.
Monthly plant sale. Our next Brevard Discovery Garden monthly plant sale will be Saturday, Feb. 5, at the BDG nursery and greenhouse just west of our office at 3695 Lake Drive, Cocoa. The garden will be open for those interested in going for a stroll.
Some of the vegetables we will have for sale are lettuce, arugula, broccoli, tomatoes and herbs, along with black-eyed Susan, gaillardia, cannas (including the native Bandanna of the Everglades), pink, red and white salvia, stokes aster, corky stem passionflower, maypop, blue flag iris, Louisiana iris, coontie, frost weed, Joe-pye weed, coral honeysuckle and pollinator combination pots. We also have beautiful staghorn ferns mounted on wood with hangers.
In addition, we will have tool sharpening available, so if you have clippers, shovels or other tools that need sharpening, bring them with you and shop while they are sharpened.
The plant sale will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and only checks and cash will be accepted. Hope you can stop by.
More:Sally Scalera: Looking for a fun project? Try growing edible plants like Swiss chard
More:Sally Scalera: Love mangos? Here’s how to plant and care for trees for lots of fruit
More:Sally Scalera: What is that plant, really? The scientific name will tell you
Landscaping seminar. The Florida-Friendly Landscaping Seminar will be at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, at the Eau Gallie High School Auditorium. The four presentations planned are Creating Habitat for Winged Wildlife, Indian River Lagoon Update, Grow Your own Delicious Food! (No matter where you live) and Florida-Friendly Landscaping in HOA’s and Everywhere.
Door prizes will be raffled off at the end of the seminar. There will be vendors at the event, so feel free to come early to shop. The vendors also will be open during the break and after the seminar.
To sign up for a free ticket, go to 2022fflseminar.eventbrite.com.
Landscaping series. The eight-week Florida-Friendly Landscaping class series is scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 29. The class will skip April 5 and then be the next seven consecutive Tuesday mornings from 9 a.m. until noon.
Two topics will be covered during each class, and the cost of the series is $75. Check out the Eventbrite page at 2022fflclassseries.eventbrite.com to see all the topics that will be covered. If you are new to gardening in Florida, or you would like to have better results from your gardening efforts, this class is for you.
Prune your roses. Mid-month is a good time to prune hybrid rose bushes. Choose four to five main canes to form the new shrub, and prune off the others. Remove the top third of the main canes and remove any dead, damaged or twiggy growth back to the main cane. Flowers should be produced eight to nine weeks after pruning. If you’re growing Old Garden Roses like Chinas, teas, Bourbons or Damasks, they can also be lightly pruned, as needed.
Water once a week. If your lawn is yellowish from the short days, continue to water it (no more than once a week) and celebrate the fact that you won’t need to mow again for a while. Don’t expect the grass to green up, or try to make it do so, until we get longer days and warmer temperatures.
Tend your vegetable garden. Check your vegetable garden for diseased, insect infested, old or non-producing plants and cut them off at the soil line. That will allow the root system to remain in the ground (for the soil microbes to consume) and won’t disturb the soil.
Vegetables to plant in February. Vegetables that can be planted in February include arugula, beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupes, carrots, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, collards, cucumbers, eggplant, endive/escarole, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, okra, bunching onions (green and shallots), peas, peppers, Irish and sweet potatoes, radishes, spinach, squash, sweet corn, Swiss chard, tomatoes, turnips and watermelons.
A few words of caution when growing both sweet and hot peppers: Plant them far apart, like on either side of the house, so their flavors stay true and don’t intermingle.
When planting your vegetables in the garden or in containers, be sure to inoculate the planting holes and/or drench the soil with microbial product. Peas and beans should be inoculated with the correct nitrogen-fixing bacteria. For more information on adding life to your soil, email me at [email protected].
Vegetable seeds to sow. Vegetable seeds that can be sown in February for planting in March include arugula, beans, cabbage, cantaloupes, Chinese cabbage, cucumbers, kohlrabi, okra, peppers, Southern peas, spinach, squash, sweet corn, Swiss chard and watermelon.
Herbs to plant. Some of the herbs that can be planted now include basil, oregano, chives (both onion and garlic), dill, fennel, parsley, sweet marjoram, mint, sage and thyme. Another caution: Plant dill and fennel far from one another, otherwise their flavors could mingle.
Bulbs to plant. Bulbs that can be planted this month include agapanthus, amaryllis,
caladium, canna, crinum lily, crocosmia, dahlia, hurricane lily (Lycoris spp.), rain lily and spider lily.
Inoculate the planting holes herbs and bulbs with beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae also.
Farmers Market. Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the Brevard County Farmers Market, which is held from 3-6 p.m. every Thursday at the Wickham Park Pavilion in Melbourne, and from 3-6 p.m. the second and fourth Fridays of the month across from Titusville Welcome Center, 419 S. Hopkins Ave. Produce expected at this farmers market in February includes a variety of lettuce (purple and green oak leaf, butter, broad leaf and red leaf frisee), Japanese turnips, carrots, breakfast radish, watermelon radish, bunching onions, kale, tomatoes bell peppers.
Sally Scalera is an urban horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences. Email [email protected].
Support local journalism: Find offers for new subscribers here: Special Offers — USATodayNetwork.
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/life/2022/01/31/gardening-space-coast-heres-what-do-february/6636274001/
