On February 17th we’re celebrating 70 year!! Join the party!
What To Plant
A blooming token of your love this Valentine’s Day says it best! Get a tree that bursts in to bloom each spring like a dogwood, magnolia hybrid, redbud, or a flowering cherry/plum/pear.
Choose azaleas and camellias now, while they are in bloom. The selection this time of year is at its peak and choosing now means you’ll find just the right color for your garden.
Spring vegetables! We recommend planting 6-packs of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, onions, and Asian greens this month. From seed, start: beets, carrots, cauliflower, chard, peas, and radishes. Be sure to top off your raised bed or lay down a layer of compost before you put your plants in the ground.
Bare root strawberries and many fun varieties of potatoes are in stock this month. Catch them before they are gone!
Choose your summer shade now. Plant trees in the garden. We have a huge selection of every height, width, evergreen, deciduous, showing fall color or flowering.
This is a good month for planting groundcover plants. They will be able to establish strong root systems before “hot” weather appears.
Set out perennials this month so you can enjoy their late spring and early summer blooms.
Summer blooming bulbs are available at the nursery this month. Choose from dahlias, gladiolus, begonias and more. We sell out quickly so don’t delay! Wait to plant when the ground is not soggy though.
Bare Root season ends when buds start to form. If you want to plant a fruit tree or berry from bare root then act quickly.
Maintenance & Protection
If you haven’t already, prune roses, fruit trees, grapes and berry vines this month for a more bountiful harvest in the summer.
Start your tomato and pepper seeds indoors. We usually recommend February 14th, but it depends on the weather we’re having. Make sure they get lots of light so that they don’t become leggy!
Snails and slugs are active at this time of the year. Keep bait in strategic places like thick ground covers and flower borders.
Give your houseplants a new year’s bath. Their leaves need to be cleaned of dust and other residue. Set them in the sink or bathtub and sponge off the leaves. Trim where necessary and give them a good drink. In a day or two you can fertilize them.
This month is your last chance to dormant spray your fruit trees with oil or copper. Protect trees from overwintering pests, larvae and eggs, and improve your success controlling pests during the growing season.
Fruit Trees
Almond trunk paint
Apple trunk paint / remove mummified fruit and clean up around tree / fire blight management
Apricot trunk paint
Cherry trunk paint / prevent brown rot
Fig trunk paint
Peach/Nectarine trunk paint / scaffold support / prevent brown rot (end of month)
Pear trunk paint / remove mummified fruit and clean up around tree / fire blight management
Pecan trunk paint
Persimmon trunk paint
Pistachio trunk paint / plant container grown trees
Plum/Pluot/Prune trunk paint / plum aphid management if 50% or more of leaves are curled
Quince trunk paint / remove mummified fruit and clean up around tree / fire blight management
Pomegranate trunk paint
Walnut trunk paint
Trunk paint is available in our store in quart and gallon containers in a brown color that matches bark nicely. Alternatively, a latex house paint thinned with water (1:1) works well too. Fire Blight Management means pruning out affected shoots, making pruning cuts into healthy wood at least 12 inches below the dead portion of the branch. Destroy all diseased wood. Copper spray may help control disease.