February can be a difficult and frustrating month in the garden. Although the days are getting longer it is still cold with frosts at night. Also there is little sign of the spring to come except the appearance of a few bulbs. In the general gloom there is one plant that can supply both colour and a delicate scent and that is the Hamamelis or Chinese Witch Hazel group. Most varieties flower in late December, January,February and early March. There are numerous varieties with flowers with long spindle shaped petals of various colours that give off a delicate scent. The colours vary from bright yellow to deep red. I think in the general gloom of winter the yellow petals stand out better than those of a darker red. The flowers are frost hardy and in the sunshine give off a delicate aroma. They can be bought in flower and can be grown in the border or in a container. They like a well drained sandy soil which means that they will need watering in dry weather before they get established. Most are grafted so when planting add plenty of compost and ensure that the graft site is above ground. They seem delightfully free of pests and diseases and really require little attention except watering in dry weather for the first couple of years and an occasional gentle prune after flowering to maintain a manageable size. After flowering they produce an attractive foliage.
Don’t be confused by the nomenclature. Hamamelis Mollis is the original and Hamamelis Intermedia are hybrids. Just choose what you want!
Finish pruning apples, pears and gooseberries and give them a feed.
Wisteria needs to be cut back to three or buds per spur.
Remove the dead flowers from Nerines and give them a feed pria to the appearance of the foliage. Plant new bulbs in March to May. They do not like to be distributed once established but can become over crowded and need dividing and this should be done in early spring.
Plant bare rooted fruit trees, shrubs along with new raspberry canes and rhubarb crowns.
Towards the end of the month plant aubergine, chillies and greenhouse tomatoes in a propagator and early potatoes in sacks.
Also the end of February is the time to start indoor sowing of broad beans ( Imperial Green Long Pod), peas ( Douce Provence) and mange tout where there is a variety called Newick!
Now is also the time to get your onion sets and perhaps start them off in modules or pots. I think growing onions from seed is for the real enthusiast unless you are after mammoth varieties or spring onions. Red onions tend to be sweeter with a higher sugar content and hence caramelise and it is difficult to beat Red Baron . Otherwise I stick to Sturon for good size round onions and Stuttgarter Giant for rather flatter onions which keep best of all.
Our Spring Show is on the 15th March and schedules are available from committee members and at The Five Bells.
Good Gardening
Peter Estcourt