Beautiful tulips bouquet on wooden table. (C) Maglara/123rf.com
Even though it’s short, February is blah-est winter month. It’s best function is as the bridge between winter and spring, and about this time of year, we’re all ready for spring.
First up, Ground Hog Day, and this year, the prediction is six more weeks of winter. Whatever you say, Phil.
Next, Valentine’s Day, where we can indulge our love of flowers and share them with the people we love. There’s nothing like a fresh bouquet of tulips to give a glimpse of what we’ll see in our gardens in a few more weeks. Remember to keep the vase of flowers out of direct sun and away from heat. The cooler the spot, the longer the bouquet will last.
Do your rose stems bend causing the flowers to droop? Make a fresh cut and submerge the hole stem – leaves and flowers – in warm water for 20 to 60 minutes until the stems straighten, said Melinda Myers, horticulturist, garden writer, author and tv and radio personality.
Then make another cut with the stem under water, if possible, and rearrange the flowers in a clean vase with fresh water, she said.
‘Jelena’ witch hazel at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Photo courtesy Irvin Etienne/IMA
Anytime this month or next, take a stroll at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and smell the witch hazels. Most of them are inside the verdant perimeter and admission is required to see and smell the witch hazel in the Garden for Everyone and elsewhere. In the free access area, ‘Jelena’ witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) can be enjoyed near the parking lot at the Michigan Road entrance.
The 20th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Feb. 17-20, is a wonderful family activity. The first year, participants submitted about 13,500 checklists from the U.S. and Canada. Last year, about 163,760 birdwatchers in more than 100 countries submitted 162,052 checklists, reporting 5,689 species. It sounds more complicated than it is. Select a spot and count the number and types of birds you see there for 15 minutes on one or more days. The website has details and forms to use. (Don’t you love the logo above? Art by Charley Harper.)
Sign up for the Spring Garden Clinic, Saturday, March 4 at St. Luke United Methodist Church, 100 W. 86th St. Coordinated by Purdue Extension-Marion County. The fee is $40 and includes handouts, lunch and snacks.
Topics are: 10 Landscape Pest in 2016; Ecological Pest Management for the Vegetable Garden; Growing and Using Culinary Herbs; Growing and Loving Daylilies; Planning and Planting Your Vegetable Garden; New Plant Sampler; What Not to Plant; Don’t be a Buzz Kill: How to Protect Pollinators in Your Garden; Providing Habitat for Wildlife Around Your Home; What’s New in Home Food Preservation; Vegetable Garden Pests, and Creating the Structured Native Home Landscape. Registration is required.