How about you...I have beeen cleaning beds and doing all the maintenance chores but all this sunshine and heat is making me itchy tp [lant. Yes ...yes...I know it is way to early but I just got the urge...I was visiting with a lady in the garden dept at Walmart ....we were both buying soaker hoses and I ask her if she had the itch and she said...yeppers it's literally killing me...so anyone else...I'm planting some early veggies this weekend...can't stand it any longer...
Heat making me itchy...
Its not the lack of heat that will slow them down--its short daylength right now.
I've had lettuces and broccoli doing well all winter--but they are used to short daylength. I've also got lots of wintersown seeds growing (stocks, snapdragons, poppies, larkspur, etc) and while they look real good they are not growing very fast due to the short daylength.
Our Walmart has tomato plants already! I bought some oriental lilies, I couldn't help myself.
I want to plant so bad! Are we supposed to have any frost or freezes between now and April?
Houston's last avg frost date is Feb 28--but this surely isn't an average year! I've also heard you can get the coldest temps on the full moon in the winter--I've noticed some truth to this and ther is a full moon on Feb 12. But April, like I said, this surely isn't an average year! I usually try a tomato plant or two around the 20th of Feb with others safe under lights. I've always lost them but I don't do anything special to save them because I have "back-ups". I think its worth a try in Feb if you can afford to loose the plants.
I'm west of San Antonio and last night was 29F. Still can be winter at night here! If you put any "tender" plants outdoors, you could leave them in pots until later, so you can bring them in. Things like onions, however, would be good. With the drought being real bad here, I don't think I'll throw myself into growing lots of new plants this year unless we seem to be pulling out of the drought.
Linda
check out the vegetables forum--there's a thread there about onions--you may have missed the date for those in Texas but I don't really know--I just do garlic and that is planted up until November here.
Ruthie, a resounding YES!! I'm afraid I "scratched" a little today. Didn't plant anything, but just had to prune a few things - now I'll just hope a freeze doesn't hurt them. I know we'll expect at least one more freeze between now and March, but in your area, you may have one even later!
Maggie
I did the same, it was too tempting, had to cut off some of the dead stuff it was getting on my nerves.
Well I couldn't help myself! I redid two large beds. Now they're saying it will be in the low 40's two mornings this week! I hope the plants don't mind the cold so soon after being moved around.