February in my gardens is largely when the quiet work begins. Let’s call it what it is: a reset. I started the process of cleaning out all the dead plants from last season and pulling the opportunistic weeds that have already crept in. (I’m looking at you, cow parsley!). Let’s go garden by garden and I’ll show you where we’re at.

The Front Yard Garden Bed

There’s not much to report here! My foxglove re-seeded in the corner, and I’m happy to say that one of the snapdragons overwintered. Other than that, a good clean-up is needed. I’ve also been moving rock from our backyard into the right corner to help with drainage that runs off the roof in sheets. My tentative plans are to fill this area with something easy, like petunias for the summer.

The Shade Garden

So far, this garden doesn’t exist! Moss grows readily here, so I’m confident I’ll be able to do some fun shade plants along this wall, with plans for an American Beautyberry shrub in the corner. Can you see the vision?

The Front Porch Pots

I devoted some time this month to refreshing these pots for Spring on a shoestring budget of $20. I love how sweet they came out! I mixed Violas, Pansies, and a Dusty Miller in these two. The soil is old and spent, so I mixed in a bit of my homemade compost and some worm castings I had.

The Rose Garden

Again, this garden requires a good deal of imagination. This wall is opposite of the shade garden wall and will be a perfect area to grow roses and cover up/hide some of the more utilitarian parts of home ownership. I have one beautiful red climbing rose that was a gift for Mother’s Day. I have a cozy thought of getting a new rose every Mother’s Day and lining this wall with memories.

The Raised Bed Garden

This is the space that grew pounds and pounds of food last season, and I hope to repeat the harvest this year. The kids and I attempted to make a whimsical grapevine arch, but it flopped, as you can see. Additionally, I put in a new raised bed garden (no dirt yet) for flowers and herbs. My thought is that the flowers will grow tall enough to peek over the window. We should be able to see them while we eat meals, as that is the dining room window.

The Cottage Garden

This is my pride and joy, the garden I’m most excited for. I greatly extended it this winter and added the edging, good soil, and arched bench. The plans for this area are to do a proper cottage garden, Texas style.

The Orchard and Hanging Pots

This space is set aside for fruit production, but in a lovely way. Eventually, we might tuck a chicken coop in the shady corner, but for now it houses our two-year old apple trees, and soon to come: blueberries! The shepard hooks have held birdseed over the winter, but for summer I have plant for classic hanging baskets of flowers.

Final Thoughts

February doesn’t look like much. It’s mostly brown and brittle and leftover. But underneath all this quiet, the work is happening. Still to do: top off the garden beds with new soil/compost and continue cleanup, make lists of plants for each garden area to keep at hand, build a new arch for the raised beds.