Flower Tasks for February

On Growing & Arranging this month

What to do in February

Last of the slower months

Diminutive stems in bud vases lined up along a mantlepiece at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.

We need to look a little harder to find the flowers in February but once found, these are prime candidates for bud vases, elevated to eye level to admire their intricacies and oftentimes, gentle scent. Just a few stems can go a long way.

An exercise in an elegance of sufficiency.

I am still not quite ready for spring. Reading that post back reminded me of the wonders of winter. I overheard a brilliant response to a moan about winter this week ‘it happens every year, get in to it’. They are right, why wish this one and only life away for the summer. Lean into those soups, bracing walks, scented stems and deep hot baths with a book.

That said, it is utterly filthy wet, grey weather here. So I am hiding, planning, collaging, puzzling and dreaming. In the pockets of dry and sunshine, I am nipping out to do the few jobs left to do at this time of reduced growing activity. Let’s get to it.

A carpet of snow drops. This lights up the edge of the water meadow at the bottom of our lane.

1. Move Pots around for best view

   I am loving these Iris reticulata and have them on tables to see them better at eye level. If you don’t have any, make a note for August to order some and pot up in the autumn along with muscari, crocus and other small bulbs.

   

2. Protect edible plants from bird damage

   I find sweet rocket, perennial poppies and ranunculus especially are nibbled at by pheasants and pigeons so I cover with branches, enviromesh on hoops or cloches of chicken wire until they have bulked up and more food is available for the birds to leave these alone.

   

   A nibbled sweet rocket.

3. Planting trees, shrubs and perennials.

   Perfect timing, certainly for trees. Ideally get them bare rooted or root balled for the most cost effective way of buying and quickest establishment. Whilst you are at it, order and plant shrubs and perennials. They will grow away well if they get a good few weeks to root before producing new growth.

4. Lift and move shrubs

   Great time to do a switch around. I moved some big shrubs last week. Try to get as much of the root ball up with little damage, dig a hole slightly larger than the root ball, fill back and gently but firmly firm with your heel around the edge of the root ball. Watch for any hard frosts. Newly planted can lift and need gently pushing back down.

Snowdrops, winter honeysuckle and willow branches on the bench.

5. Pruning

Lots of sets of plants can be cut back now, late summer flowering shrubs like buddleja and fuchsias (go really hard on these two, shrubs will flower in this years growth). Others are winter flowering shrubs that will be finishing now. These don’t often need a hard prune but if you did cut out crossing branches in the winter (to bring inside), then now is the time to do it. Open up the shrubs a little to allow good circulation for spring and summer leaves. Finally, dogwoods, continus and physocarpus respond well to being chopped back too. I rotate cutting dogwoods and physocarpus hard. Sure I will miss out on the flowers this season (don’t cut and they’ll branch and flower in the summer) but I will get rod straight new growth. Choice is yours. Cut back roses hard too. Don’t cut back any spring or early summer flowering shrubs. These will flower on wood produced last year so wait until after they flower. This is the kind of useful thing to record in a diary - if you don’t know when the shrub flowers, look up or note when it does then plan to prune accordingly for abundant flowers in future years.

Good rules of thumb for pruning -

a. Always use sharp secateurs.

b. Cut out rubbing or crossing branches

c. Prune out dead wood.

d. Lightly prune older, thicker wood and hard prune new growth (to encourage).

6. Mulching

Spread compost around the base of shrubs and trees, beds, borders, anywhere you think it is needed.

7. Weeding

Perennial weeds are most easily lifted now, whilst growth is slow and the soil is damp. I have ripped up loads of nettles around shrubs in the field plot with great ease compared to the summer efforts. In their place, I will sow long living green manures come March.

Collecting Hellebore flower heads to float in shallow dishes of water.

8. Hardy Annual Seed Sowing.

These seeds can start being sown now but suggest sowing few until next month because they can go leggy if sown early. Instead sow slow growers like cobea now and perennials that need longer. Or join me on the planning course - free for paid subscribers.

9. Dahlias

If you lifted yours, check on them in storage. Throw out any that are soft and rotten and prevent the rest of your stock going the same way. This is a great month to choose new plants and this is a handy guide to doing so.

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Harvesting

Shrubs - Sarcoccoca (cut just a stem or two for indoors, heaven), hazel, alder, lonicera ‘winter beauty’, Daphne, Chimonanthus praecox, willow and dogwood stems. Wild cherry blossoms.

Perennials - Hellebores, artichoke leaves, euphorbia, polyanthus and aconites

Bulbs - Snowdrops, iris reticulata, first golden narcissus and cyclamen.

Dried Flowers - Including my favourite honesty (also dahlias, cornflowers, achillea… Bex Partridge is your go to for drying flowers)

Who says there isn’t anything in flower in February at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge

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I write about, teach and design productive and sustainable gardens. For subscriber only posts on all the above and inspirational ideas to go out and do the same in your own space, join me as a paid subscriber. Then you can also join us on a Tuesday night for this winter’s cut flower planning class. There are three classes already recorded - catch up on the notes, recording and resources here and see you on Tuesday at 7pm!

With love,