It’s About Thyme
by CHRIS WINSLOW
Here in Hays County, a vegetable gardener’s hands are rarely idle. We are so fortunate because there is almost always something you can plant almost any day of the year. The trick is knowing what to plant… and when.
For this, a brief consultation with Mr. Google is called for. Try asking him to locate ‘Travis AgriLife Planting Calendar’ and you will arrive at one of my favorite planting calendar websites.
Complied by experts at Texas A&M and the Texas Extension Service, this free and simple guide tells you what crop to plant for each week and month of the year.
With February starting to slip toward March, it’s important to plant those asparagus crowns and seed potatoes. For bulbing onions (from transplants) time has about run out. For a successful crop of 1015y, Bermuda or Southern Belle red, we have about two weeks to get them in the ground.
February is also the month to plant spinach, turnips, cool season greens (mustard and collards), kale, lettuce, leeks, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, radishes, carrots, and English peas (snap and snow).
This is also the perfect time to prepare the garden soil for spring. Tomato, okra, squash, cucumber, pepper, cantaloupe, watermelon, corn, and eggplant season is just a few weeks away.
If you have the time, stop by the nursery. We will have plenty of these garden calendars on hand to give away.
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A customer recently mentioned that they had a small strip of ground to plant between the wall of the house and the entry walkway, and were wanting some suggestions. The strip is 1 foot by 15 feet.
I recommended a dwarf Mexican petunia called katie ruella which would fit that area perfectly. Katie’s flowers come in purple, white and pink. She grows to be about a foot tall and wide on beautiful dark green foliage.
Another good choice would be wall germander, an evergreen dwarf shrub with rose colored flowers, which bloom in early summer. Wall germander is often used in knot gardens in Europe because of its small shape and appearance.
Happy gardening everyone!
If you have a question for Chris, send it via email to [email protected]. Or mail a postcard to It’s About Thyme:11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748
