February in the garden

Nurture your darling garden this month of love by sowing delicious edibles and magnificent flowers. Remember to give your roses some TLC and maintain your existing crops for an abundant harvest. Life is a Garden – here’s what to do with yours this February.

FLOWER POWER

Blooms to sow

• Plant tough annuals such as Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) and African Daisy (Gazania rigens) to fill gaps in beds and provide gorgeous colour for the months ahead.
• Gerbera Daisy (Gerbera jamesonii) is your best bet for pots with full sun. They boast striking pink, red, cream, or orange blooms that’ll bring any patio to life.
• Begin sowing these winter and spring-flowering gems that need a bit of time to mature in seedling trays: cinerarias, gazanias, Iceland poppies, primulas, violas, pansies, larkspurs, Canterbury bells, columbines, and aquilegias.

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Planning ahead

Many summer-flowering annuals start coming to the end of their flowering season and need to be removed. As such, collect ripe seeds from flowers you wish to grow for next season and begin preparing seed and flower beds for autumn planting. Prepare your beds with the help of All Purpose. Bio Ganic All Purpose is pelletised for slow, consistent release of nutrients and it is organic and environment friendly.

Best for indoors

Adorn the indoors with your very own Love Palm (Chamaedorea elegans).They are small, slow-growing palm trees, reaching a full height of approximately 1 meter. Celebrated for their attractive foliage, compact shape and decorative cluster form, Love Palms are ideal indoor beauties that thrive in low to moderate light.

Caring for flowers

• Keep azaleas and camellias well-watered to ensure a good show of flowers during winter and spring.
• Keep deadheading your spent blooms to promote faster regrowth with more flowers.

Rose TLC

• Deadhead and dis-bud your babies.
• Water well 3 times a week.
• Apply Flower & Fruit evenly to pre-soaked soil around the drip line of the plant and water again, well. Keep fertiliser at least 20cm away from the base and avoid contact with foliage or flowers. NOTE: Not suitable for use with newly planted roses. In this instance, use Bio Ocean.
• Spray fortnightly against black spot, beetles and bollworm with organic and biological pest control solutions available at your GCA Garden Centre.

ALL ABOUT EDIBLES

Greens to sow and plant

• Sow spinach, globe artichokes, chilies, parsley, carrots, radish, and rocket.
• Sow your first round of potato seeds for an early winter harvest.
• Plant Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) if you enjoy Asian-style cooking. This aquatic vegetable forms tufts of bright green with straw-like leaves that spread rapidly.
• Fertilise your edibles with Bio Ocean, the key ingredient seaweed, contains a range of naturally occurring minerals and growth stimulants which will help maximise your plant growth.

Tending to the harvest

• Pinch out tomatoes and surplus squashes to get fewer but bigger vegetables.
• Remember to keep mulching your beds to suppress weed growth, keep roots cool, and conserve water.

Garden centre treasures

• Buy ready-to-plant strawberries, which you can hang in baskets or transplant into containers. Feed with Bio Ocean and water regularly to enjoy their beauty, even after fruiting.
• Your local GCA Garden Centre has the latest, fully grown, dwarf veggies that are ready to harvest, even while still in the car’s boot. These varieties include: chillies, cherry tomatoes, and fresh loose-leaf lettuce varieties. Take advantage of these time-saving greens that’ll give you some goodness to eat while waiting for other crops to mature.

Pesky critters

Look out for red spider mites which are problematic in periods of drought and very hot weather. Use the correct insecticides to control these pests on plants such as fruit trees, roses, and shrubs. Red spider mites can also destroy annuals like tomatoes if too heavily infested. Visit your GCA Garden Centre for the best defence against these pesky critters. Remember to ask your GCA for friendly pest solutions.

There’s always something to do in the garden and always a plant child in need of a little TLC. Caring for your crop offers delicious rewards while tending to blooms provides an ongoing stream of colourful delights. Enjoy your February missions, dear gardeners!

Source: Life is a Garden