Break from cold weather means great days in the garden

▪ There are some beautiful days coming to Middle Georgia! It’s time to get out in the landscape and take care of those projects that need attention. Clean, prune, weed, de-clutter, plant, buy or just get out and relax.

▪ What’s blooming now? Flowering quince! This small, drought-tolerant shrub grows well here in Georgia. Flowers appear in winter in red, pink, orange and white. Plant in part shade.

▪ Now is a great time to remove dead or dying trees in your landscape. Tree companies are usually a little slower this time of year, so ask for their best prices. Be very sure that the company is insured. It’s not a “deal” if a tree falls on a house or a car and the tree company has no insurance.

▪ The warm weather will bring spring a little bit early. Enjoy it, because winter isn’t finished yet. Before the next frost, cut flowers of daffodil, hyacinth, iris and saucer magnolia to enjoy inside.

▪ February and March are excellent months to install landscape plants, trees and shrubs. The cooler and wetter weather during these months provides ideal conditions for root establishment and growth. Better roots equals better plants.

▪ Plants in containers and hanging baskets still need to be watered. A little liquid fertilizer would be good, too!

▪ Remove camellia blooms damaged by cold. The shrubs will look better and spend less energy on damaged flowers.

▪ Before camellia flowers are damaged by a hard freeze, clip some branches with flower buds ready to open and bring them indoors to enjoy.

▪ Now is the time to plant blueberry bushes. Choose early- and late-blooming varieties to prolong summer harvests. Blueberries need different varieties for pollination and berry production. Rabbiteye varieties of blueberries do better in our area. Plant blueberries in full sun and slightly acidic soil.

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Break from cold weather means great days in the garden."