February
by Kay Gee

Hand pollinate pumpkin flowers Dead-head lavender, salvia and dahlias to promote sustained flowering. Prune back pelargoniums hard at the end of the month. Cut spikes of Ginger Lily to perfume the house. Cut back old raspberry canes after fruiting. Prune plum and apricot trees.  Layer carnations Prepare beds for planting of spring bulbs.   Tidy strawberry beds Fertilise Japanese Windflowers to maintain flowering. Layer grapevines. Strike semi-ripe cuttings of rosemary. Cut bunches of everlasting daisies before they are fully open and hang them upside   down to dry. Fertilise Camellia sasanqua bushes as the buds appear. Prune petunias to encourage an autumn flowering flush. Plant colchicum bulbs without delay. Remove the spent flowering stems of agapanthus. (These may be dried. Remove the seedpods and dry in an empty tall vase until straw-coloured.) Trim back wayward shoots of wisteria to keep it under control. Keep watering and fertilising sweet corn. Propagate cuttings for a lavender hedge by taking side cuttings of semi-ripe wood. Make selections of spring flowering bulbs to plant in autumn. Fertilise asters in preparation for flowering. Keep dead-heading roses and lightly prune to prolong the late summer flush. Take cuttings of azaleas, ceanothus, viburnums, callistemons, grevilleas and banksias. Fertilise citrus trees.

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