Observe your houseplants' response to lengthening days. When you see renewed activity (often late February, early March) resume fertilizing. Mix houseplant food half strength, however, to minimize potential burning and reduce fertilizer buildup in the soil.Send in an early seed order if you want to try growing the very latest flowers and vegetables. New varieties are always in high demand-but may be in short supply. Each year the choice of plants grows wider for the northern gardener as plants are bred for hardiness. Once seeds arrive, keep them in a cool, dry place until you're ready to use them. It is important to buy seed/roots from a trusted company or order from a local nursery. Plant onion seeds now, to transplant later into your garden. They won't go to seed midway through the growing season the way most "sets" will. Keep them in a sunny window or beneath fluorescent lights; trim them back if they get too tall and floppy. By mid-March sow other vegetable or flower seeds that need eight to ten weeks head start before moving them outdoors. Leeks, eggplants, peppers, dianthus, sweet alyssum, bells of Ireland, blue salvia, and scabiosa all need this longer period of growth. Check gladiolus, dahlias, cannas and other tender bulbs stored in your attic or basement. Cull out soft or rotting bulbs before the problem spreads. Premature sprouting is caused by temperatures that are too warm; shriveling is caused by excessively dry conditions. Discard any that are obviously soft and mushy.Bring stored geraniums and tuberous begonias out of storage by the end of the month. Pot them in fresh soil and place them right by a sunny window or under fluorescent lights. Water them regularly to initiate new growth, and fertilize them every two to three weeks so they're growing actively in time to move them outdoors once frost danger has passed. In our area of Beltrami County a 10% chance of frost remains as late as June 5-10.Get the jump on tree diseases by pruning and destroying infected branches while the trees are still dormant. Look for black knot swellings on chokecherries and other cherry relatives. Remove branches killed by fire blight in apple, crabapple, pear, or mountain ash trees. Prune several inches back into healthy wood. Pruning paint or wound dressing are unnecessary. Once new growth begins, pruning wounds heal rapidly, without added disease risk. If your oak trees need trimming, have it done by the end of this month, to help prevent the spread of oak wilt disease. Avoid pruning oaks from April through June, as the scent of freshly exposed wood attracts sap beetles that carry the fungus from one tree to another. Should your trees suffer storm damage during that time, have a professional arborist assess the damage and care for the trees accordingly.
