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What to Plant This Month- February
 
February is for seed ordering and starting, summer bulb planting , dormant spraying and for doing all those other things you didn't get around to doing last month...
BARE-ROOT: You might still be able to find some bare-root bargains, but many nurseries will be potting up their remainders. There's still time to plant dormant (or semi-dormant) fruit and nut trees and shrubs, landscape trees and shrubs, artichokes, asparagus, berries and roses. To help you select fruit varieties, visit the Dave Wilson Nursery website. Preeminent wholesale grower, Dave Wilson Nursery, supplies fruit, nut and berry varieties to local retail nurseries. Also see University of California's Backyard Orchard Page and Peaceful Valley Farm Supply's bare-root selection.
LILACS: Check nurseries this month for a wide selection of lilacs. Look for low-chill varieties like 'Lavender Lady' that bloom well even in mild climates.
SEEDS & BULBS: Order seeds and bulbs for the summer garden. Plant summer bulbs (and tubers) like canna, lilies, sparaxis, watsonia, gladiolus, ranunculus and allium, which start showing up in stores toward the end of January. Many seeds can be started indoors now (see seed package for best planting dates). Don't have a greenhouse for starting seeds? Use a domed seed-starting kit like the one pictured at left. Summer bulbs are starting to show up in stores. For an even wider selection, try mail order.
ANNUALS: If your yard is crying out for some color, cool-season annuals come to the rescue. Look for pansies, primrose, Iceland poppies, ornamental kale, forget-me-nots, snapdragon, sweet peas, stock and more. These should add color through early spring. Or, wait until warm-season color like petunias and marigolds start showing up in nurseries.
PERENNIALS: Plant hardy perennials like: alstroemeria, catmint, coral bells, scabiosa and more.

VEGETABLES: Plant asparagus (crowns), beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, chard, leeks, lettuce, bulb onions, white potatoes, radish, rhubarb, and turnips. Want to know which veggie seeds you can start indoors now? Print out this handy UC Vegetable Research & Info SEED-STARTING WORKSHEET, grab a calendar and start calculatin'... You'll need the avg. last frost date, coverwhich VictorySeeds.com lists as March 23 for Sacramento and April 13 for Auburn.

Early birds, start your tomato and pepper seeds indoors at the beginning of this month.

More Resources:
Yearly Vegetable Planting Calendar
UC VRIC Table 2: Vegetable Gardening at a Glance: How to Plant and Store (pdf file, requires Adobe  Reader)
Vegetable Gardening

LANDSCAPE TREES: While not the ideal time (early fall is ideal), you can still plant landscape trees, weather permitting. Visit the Sacramento Tree Foundation's website for the lowdown on Sacramento area trees. Also see my picks and the City of Sacramento's Tree Planting Guide. If you're a SMUD customer, you may qualify for free shade trees! Click here to see which tree varieties are being offered by the Sacramento Shade Program and how to get them.

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