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Index : Miscellaneous Gardening Topics
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- 15. February Gardening Calender - Top
- Water Desert Plants such as Mesquite, Palo Verde, Desert Willow and Prickly Pear Cactus. Our drier winter conditions haven’t supplied our desert plants with their normal ration of water. As a result, they are beginning to suffer! One good soaking of these and other desert plant varieties will tide them over until we do, hopefully, get some rain. The best way to water plants not currently on an irrigation system is to use a soaker hose. Made of recycled, porous rubber, soaker hoses drip water out their entire length. This allow for deep soaking of the soil and plant roots. The hose should be curled in an outward spiral, beginning near the plant base and extending past the plant’s outer edge.
Fertilize Citrus to provide the nutrients needed to enhance blossoming in March. Apply a citrus fertilizer, ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) or other high nitrogen fertilizer. For small / young trees up 3 years old, apply approximately three-quarter pounds of fertilizer. For medium-sized trees up to 6 years of age, apply 2 pounds. Large, mature citrus should receive 2 and one-half pounds of fertilizer. In the case of grapefruit trees, cut these recommendations in half. Over- fertilized grapefruits may develop an abnormally thick rind. Use a measuring cup to portion out the proper amount of fertilizer. One cup equals approximately one-half pound of fertilizer.
Celebrate Valentines Day with a gift of fresh flowers for that special someone. Choose roses and other cut flowers with full and unblemished blooms. Select roses which have buds slightly opened. Rose buds too tight may not open. Buds opened too fully will not last long. Roses that are wired to hold the bud upright should also be avoided. To keep roses and other cut flowers fresh, re-cut the stem ends and place them in a vase of warm water with floral preservative added. Place flowers in a cool location, out of direct sunlight. Cut flowers should be kept well away from ripening fruit. The ethylene gas given off by bananas, apples and other fruits cause flowers to quickly deteriorate!
Prune Roses to encourage spring growth and bloom. Canes on small to medium-sized rose bushes should be cut back to 18 to 24 inches in height. On larger, more mature bushes (5 feet or taller), cut back canes from 24 to 36 inches high. . Each cane should be pruned back to an outward facing shoot or dormant bud. Shoots will be obvious, but dormant buds are harder to see. They’re located at the base of leaf petiole. So cutting just above an outward-facing leaf will insure that when the bud breaks dormancy, the new shoot will grow out and away from the center of the bush. In addition, thin the rose bush by pruning out small, spindly canes to the ground. Some thinning of the inner canes may also be necessary to give the remaining canes room to grow.
Plant Bare-Root Roses, Trees and Vines now available at garden centers. Roses, grapes, blackberries, apples and plums come packaged with their roots packed in peat moss. Dig a hole for bare-root plants large enough to accommodate the roots. Remove the bag and peat moss and spread the roots out in the planting hole. Be sure the top layer of roots are at the top of the planting hole. Fill soil around the roots and water thoroughly. Keep the soil moist with frequent watering. New roots will begin to grow and buds will sprout as the temperatures warm this spring.
Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona,
520-626-5161.
- Updated: February 5, 2006
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