A Wild Child Garden In February

I feel like I start every month saying, “Can you believe there are still things to plant this month?”  Well, guess what??  THERE ARE STILL THINGS TO PLANT IN FEBRUARY!   

Remember in the Wild Child Garden we are always picking, planting and planning what's next!  Now, don’t get me wrong, in the month of February we are focused on planning our spring gardens!  This is the month to get that plan down on paper, and if you have been here for a while, you know we LOVE a good garden plan!  February is also the perfect month to join us in our one-of-a-kind Kitchen Garden Academy program.  In this 8 week experience, I will teach you everything you need to know to grow a successful garden in the space you have! Trust me when I tell you this program will change the way you look at your garden, and it will help you plan and build a successful garden if you don’t already have one! So if you are dreaming of having your very own backyard garden this is where you should start! 

Veggies To Plant In February

Let’s start with veggies.  This is one of the few months of the year that I would recommend holding off on ALMOST all veggies.  It is still a little too cold for our spring vegetables that we are so anxiously eager to plant, and any fall or winter veggies that we plant now won’t have time to mature before they are just in the way of our spring gardens. But there are a few exceptions!  One of those exceptions is LETTUCE!  We still have time to plant one more round of a heat tolerant variety of lettuce.  What are heat tolerant lettuces?? They are those who are going to be less effected by heat than the majority of lettuce varieties. Because lettuce is a cool season crop, the first warm day we get will cause the lettuce to believe their life is over, and so they will "bolt" or go to seed.  This means they flower.  In the south, this makes it impossible to grow lettuce year round.  Unless, you grow heat tolerant varieties.  Want to know some of my favorites??  CLICK HERE.  This is the secret to getting lettuce in the warmer months for us zone 9 gardeners.  One other option you have here is a beautiful container garden of lettuce, herbs, green onions, and swiss chard for a gorgeous porch planter.  This would be the perfect option for a shady spot on your porch.  You might even sow some beautiful lettuce seeds in a beautiful pot and use them as a center piece for your Easter table....like this picture below from the amazing Garden Answer. 

Ummmmm, Im sorry, but if you don't want to eat Easter lunch here we cannot be friends!!  Can you imagine how beautiful this would be in your kitchen!?!  February is also a great month to sow your favorite variety of pea’s into your garden!   Sugar snap pease that is!!  How fun is that??  My favorite variety for my south Louisiana garden is 'Thomas Laxton,'  make sure you have an arch or trellis for them!!  Plant! Plant! Plant!

Another great vegetable to get growing this month is potatoes!!  And the best part is that when you grow them the wild child way, you don't even need a garden!!  We grow our potatoes in grow bags and save all of the garden space for our spring and summer veggies!!  Learn more about growing your potatoes in grow bags HERE.  And tell me this isn't a beautiful way to garden!

Herbs To Plant In February

Now I know I told you to hold off on most vegetables, but you can still plant some of those cool weather herbs in February.  This is your last chance to enjoy one of our personal favorites, cilantro!  If you haven’t planted cilantro, go ahead and direct sow some of those seeds right into the ground.   They would also look beautiful in a container with your lettuce!!  Just keep in mind that Cilantro is a cool weather herb and once those temperatures crank up it will be too hot for this yummy garden treasure.  Parsley, oregano, rosemary and thyme can also be planted now since they can handle the cooler temperatures!  But remember whatever you plant now, you will need to leave space for on your Spring Garden plan because it will be there for the long haul.  We love to add these herbs to the corners of our raised beds, they add so much beauty all year round!

Fruit To Plant In February

February is one of the best months of the year to prune, feed, and PLANT fruit!!  So get busy! Those blueberries bushes you have been eyeing?  Yep, it is time!  The satsuma, lemon, and kumquat tree you want to add, get it!  It is fruit planting time!!  And don't forget to prune and feed your existing fruit for great harvests this month too!  There is no fruit off limits to plant this month.  The only rule is to know how they grow!! I can help with that in my course Fruit Growing Essentials.

Flowers To Plant In February

Now, you know that a Wild Child garden is not complete with out flowers!  Most of our warm weather flowers need a little bit warmer temperatures before we plant them in the garden, so hang tight on those, but you can still grab violas, pansies, and snapdragons at your local nursery and add them to your garden.  Again- Those would be stunning in that lettuce container!!   It won’t be long before we are sprinkling those zinnia seeds into our soil for our Spring Gardens but hold off on those until your soil warms up a bit! 

We can also direct sow some early bloomers like 'Bachelor Buttons' or 'Calendula' too as they can handle the cooler temps and love to wake up from winter already tucked into warm soil.  So don't hold back.  Do your research and get those flowers in the ground.  Need more help with growing flowers in your vegetable garden?  Check out my course The Art of Growing Flowers in the Vegetable Garden and get my year round flower planting schedule inside.

Now, if you still aren’t sure where to start in creating your own stunning backyard garden this month we are offering a brand new course called Raised Bed Gardening, and it is FREE!  Don’t miss out on this amazing course, that will give you all the encouragement to get started in your very own Wild Child Garden!   Join this on-demand course HERE.   You will never look at your garden the same!!

So are you ready to get growing? Don't let this month get by without planting your potatoes, your heat tolerant lettuces, and your fruit!!!  And subscribe to my weekly email below where I send all sorts of garden goodness every week for you to dig in to!