Is Your Garden Ready for Spring?

by Lydia Holley February 3, 2025

Given the warm days forecasted ahead, should you treat your landscape as if spring has sprung? Though it is easy to believe we may not have more cold days, February’s temperatures are often as full of downs as ups.

What do the experts say? Punxsutawney Phil says there will be six more weeks of winter. I used to go by the old wives tale of no freezes after an 80 degree day, until it was proven wrong. Plants seem to be no help, either. My daffodils are peeking out of the ground, but they are not a reliable indication of upcoming weather. They will cheerfully bloom the day before a snow.

According to climate.gov, the average spring’s last frost in East Texas falls on March 18. Texas A&M posts last frost dates in Overton for the past 24 years. The earliest last frost was February 10, 2001, and the frost that fell the latest was on April 15, 2014. And most of us remember the Arctic blast that decimated many of our landscapes in 2021.

So what is a gardener to do when warm weather tempts us into believing spring has arrived? I suggest you do the chores you usually do each February while enjoying the warm weather. But do not rush things in case cold weather once again rears its ugly head. Below are some chores you can safely do now.

Take a soil test. Call the extension number below to get one. Add mulch. If you have not yet started seeds for herbs, lettuce, peppers, or tomatoes, you can still do it now. Plant beets, cabbage transplants, cauliflower transplants, lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radish, spinach, and turnips.

Bulb catalogs are arriving in the mail. Summer-blooming bulbs can be ordered for planting at the right time. Dormant ornamental grasses can be cut back. Be careful not to cut so low you chop off the new growth. Valentine’s day is the traditional day to prune roses in our area, or if you want to add new roses to your landscape, bare-root roses can be planted now. Remember antique roses usually do not like to be pruned hard and pruning for climbing roses can be postponed until after their spring flush. Bare-rooted fruit and nut trees can also be planted.

Hummingbirds will be making their way north soon. Consider going ahead and putting out a feeder so you will attract more.

For additional chores that can be done at this time of year, consult the Henderson County Master Gardener Association’s Monthly Gardening Guide. Then enjoy these nice days while they last.

For more information, call 903-675-6130, email [email protected].