GARDENING CALENDAR

TEXAS AGRILIFE EXTENSION SERVICE

BEXAR COUNTY  BY DAVID RODRIGUEZ

January 19, 2008

For bunny like flowers during the Easter Holidays, plant transplants of “Bunny Bloom” larkspur. Some people say the single flowers look more like kangaroos.

Looking for a fragrant cut flower, plant some stock. The favorite selections in the nursery trade are dwarf plants measuring 8 to 10 inches tall. Stocks have some of the best fragrances in the flower garden.

For a very distinctive sweet fragrance, plant sweet pea seeds. You can enjoy the fragrance by being near the sweet pea bed or if you use the blooms as cut flowers. Sweet peas are long-lived cut flowers. There are some bush sweet peas, but the most impressive varieties are the vines. The vines require a trellis.

Petunias such as Wave and Carpet often live through the winter and bloom again in March through April. Use petunias in full sun. They grow to fill the space available. In containers, they drape over the edge and are very attractive as a hanging basket. Petunias are not a favorite deer food, but are eaten in droughty times.

For many home gardeners, spinach has been very abundant. For a late winter/ early spring harvest, set out more healthy transplants of this nutritious vegetable at this time.

David Rodriguez is County Extension Agent-Horticulture with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Bexar County. For more information, call the Master Gardener “Hotline” (210) 467-6575 or visit our County Extension website at http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu.