February garden calendar

Though February isn't exactly a great month for gardeners, it does hold some promise: It marks the halfway point of winter, essentially carrying us over the hump toward spring. Pruning chores will get us back outside, and the emergence of hellebores and crocuses signals the beginning of a new season. Here is a chore for every day of the month:

1. Inspect beds and borders for bulbs, crowns and roots that have lifted out of the ground and tamp back into the soil with your foot.

2. Today a little rodent tells us how long it will be before we can return to the garden. Legend says if the groundhog sees his shadow, we'll have to wait six weeks for spring weather.

3. Finalize your seed orders and tell me about your favorite catalogs; I'll compile them and report back to you. (Send e-mail to jessica.damiano@newsday.com.)

4. Cut back old hellebore foliage before new growth begins.

5. Instead of tossing, place 10 small or five large old seeds in a damp, folded paper towel. Seal in a plastic bag and keep moist, checking daily for sprouting. By month's end, you'll know what percentage is viable. Overplant accordingly.

6. Start seeds of ageratum, sweet alyssum, geranium, petunia, snapdragon and verbena indoors in sterile seed-starting mix. These annuals are slow to get going.

7. If the ground is dry and unfrozen, water evergreens, especially those planted in the last year.

8. Check on stored tubers and bulbs and mist with water if they appear to be drying out. Discard any that have rotted.

9. Inspect tree wrappings to ensure protection from hungry critters.

10. If orchids are outgrowing their containers, replant into a slightly larger pot now, while they're still dormant.

11. Turn the compost pile.

12. Do hemlocks look like they have cotton swab tips hanging off them? Those are woolly adelgid egg sacs. Remove them by hand and destroy immediately.

13. Plant lavender and thyme seeds indoors on a sunny windowsill.

14. Give your sweetheart potted miniature roses, and deadhead them as soon as the flowers fade.

15. For an early taste of spring, cut a few stems of forsythia, pear, pussy willow or quince and place them in a vase of water. They'll bloom sooner than their outdoor counterparts.

16. Water houseplants with room-temperature water to avoid leaf drop.

17. Prune diseased rose canes, disinfecting pruners between cuts.

18. If your lawn mower needs servicing, take it in now while business is slow and you won't likely be kept waiting. Be sure to get blades sharpened, too.

19. Prune summer-blooming shrubs.

20. Inspect burlap and other protective covers and adjust, if necessary, to avoid windburn and other damage to trees and shrubs.

21. Although you may be home for President's Day, resist the urge to start vegetable seeds. An early start will result in leggy plants.

22. Start pruning all deciduous trees except maple, beech, dogwood, elm and sycamore. Those "bleeders" should be in full leaf before they're trimmed.

23. When the temperature rises above 40 degrees, apply anti-desiccant to broadleaf evergreens like rhododendron, azalea, pieris and laurel.

24. Replenish bird feeders - and don't forget the water.

25. Prune grapevines to four or fewer fruiting canes, leaving seven to 10 buds on each.

26. Fertilize spring bulbs as soon as green sprouts emerge from the soil.

27. Start seeds of beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and celery indoors.

28. When houseplants begin to show signs of active growth, give them a boost with a shot of water-soluble fertilizer.