February garden notes from a Midwestern garden: what I’m planting indoors, direct sowing (even though it’s False Spring), pruning, and what I’m waiting on.
What These Garden Notes Are (and Why I’m Sharing Them)
This post is part of my ongoing NQH Garden Notes series: a personal, seasonal record of what actually happened in my garden.
Not a how‑to guide or perfectly executed garden plan. Just honest reflections on what I’m continuing or changing as I grow a garden that fits my needs. I write these notes mostly for myself, but I share them because I know how helpful it is to learn from someone else’s real-life garden.
You can read my reflections on what actually worked in my garden last year here, and find my January Garden Notes for 2026 here for a complete look at how the season is going so far.
What I’m Sowing Indoors
For me, seed starting begins in February—slowly, but surely. A welcome activity after months of clean fingernails and staring out the window at a barren landscape.
I actually started a first round of seedlings in January: onions, snapdragons, and pansies. At the beginning of this month, I sowed more onions and snapdragons (I decided I needed more), along with a few cells of parsley, echinops (globe thistle), and summer savory.
The January-sown seedlings have two sets of true leaves now and require regular feeding.
Today I diluted some Fox Farms Root Drench (left over from last year) and fed them. It stinks (literally), but it’s worth it.
Looking at my garden planning spreadsheet—which you can have your own copy of for free here—I see my next round includes these flowers:
- monarda (bee balm)
- sweet peas
- scabiosa
- dahlias (saved seed, not tubers)
- chamomile
And of course, vegetables:
- cabbages of all kinds
- kale
- hot and sweet peppers
- possibly celery—the regular kind, not the cutting kind (still deciding…)
The kids love starting their own seeds along with me, so we sowed mini zinnias and Purple Ball basil together. Their delight at finding seedlings poking through the soil echo my own, tame, but no less joyful reaction to observing my own seeds sprouting.
It’s a heady feeling, placing cold, hard seeds in empty soil and watching life rise from it.
If you’d like to experience seed starting for yourself (and I hope you do!), I share my process in my Complete Guide to Starting Seeds Indoors.
What I’m Direct Sowing Outdoors
We will have a heat wave in the middle of February. 60°F just a week after being in the negatives.
It’s just warm enough to direct sow a few seeds.
Are you surprised?
Perennials, cold hardy annuals, and cold-tolerant flowers and vegetables (with protection) can be sown in late winter.
I like to do this during what we Midwesterners call “False Spring”—that hopeful stretch between First and Second Winter.
I plan to sow poppies, larkspur, bupleurum, and fava beans.
Under a clear tote, I will sow spinach, kale, and my most cold tolerant lettuce. The tote will keep the seedlings warm and toasty when Second Winter returns, and False Spring is just warm enough to thaw the ground and germinate the seedlings.
I list other early spring vegetables you can plant with protection in this post. It’s risky to sow this early, but if it pays off, it’ll be wonderful to have fresh salads again.
Once we pass the equinox in March, plants will begin to grow more steadily thanks to increasing daylight. I can feel the anticipation in the air.
Everyone is waiting for winter to break.
What I’m NOT Sowing Yet (and Why)
Despite the growing daylight and ever-so-slightly warming temps, I’m holding back on most main-season crops.
I’ve struggled in the past with seedlings that were too small and seedlings that were far too large. The small ones will recover more quickly than the ones that sat stressed in little pots.
I’ve learned it’s better to have small seedlings than large, unhappy ones once May rolls around.
Warm-season crops are the very last to get started. These include:
- tomatoes
- basil
- eggplant
- gomphrena
- zinnias
- celosia
- shiso
For more warm-season crops to sow, see my menu of 75 Easy Vegetables, Herbs, and Edible Flowers to Grow, broken down by warm and cold seasons.
Once those seedlings are ready to get planted, I’ll also direct sow:
- cucumbers
- melons
- watermelon
- squashes of all kinds
- nasturtium
- amaranth
- sunflowers
Probably more zinnias as well.
Looking for more on zinnias? Find my best tips on growing zinnias in this post.
Garden Tasks for February
There’s not a whole lot to do for the garden in February, but if we have a few warm days, I tackle my yearly hydrangea and clematis pruning.
Paniculata and arborescens hydrangeas (like Incrediball) can be pruned in late winter to control size and shape.
Last year I didn’t prune my Incrediball hydrangeas and they got HUGE.
A little too huge.
So this year, they are first on my list.
See my full method in How and When to Prune Every Hydrangea, including which types shouldn’t be pruned.
I also grow Group 2 and 3 clematis.
Group 3 gets a hard cut down to a foot tall each year, and Group 2 just gets a light pruning typically.
This year I’m cutting my Group 2 clematis (Miss Bateman) back a little further so that it regrows and fills the other side of its trellis.
I’ll also keep an eye out for bare-root perennials and dahlia tubers to hit garden centers. Around here, they sell out of the good stuff pretty quickly.
My final task is to watch for sales on potting mix and all-purpose fertilizer. When I feel motivated to work on containers, I like having supplies ready to go.
Garden Tasks I’m NOT Doing Yet
I’m not:
- fertilizing
- turning my frozen compost bin
- reworking in-ground beds
- clearing away garden debris
Perennials are still dormant at this time, so it would be a waste to fertilize them. Working soil that’s too wet damages its structure.
I’ll add or widen pathways because they’ll just get trampled anyway, but I won’t work on my in-ground beds until the ground has dried some.
And clearing garden debris too early removes shelter for beneficial insects. Plus, you just never know if a plant needs that little bit of leaf cover to make it through a late cold snap.
Unless I had an infestation of a pest, I leave last year’s debris in place until I’m nearly ready to plant.
What I’m Most Excited About This Spring
My husband and I are finally putting up a fence and adding new raised beds.
These garden projects kept getting pushed back, but no longer!
I’m also trialing new-to-me varieties like Ballerina, Aurora, and Agave Zinnias from Johnny’s breeding program, Sapporo Giant #4 Cabbage from Baker Creek, and tomatoes like Vintage Wine and Magic Bullet.
I’m even getting to revisit an old favorite I didn’t get to have last year—Italian Heirloom Tomato.
I also saved dahlia seeds from our flowers last year. Dahlias have 8 sets of genes (compared to our 2) so their children can turn out wildly different from the parents.
Even though I save tubers from named varieties each year, I like to plant out a few mystery seedlings from my garden just to see what new surprises I get.
That unpredictability is all part of the excitement of growing out your own seeds.
Concluding the Last Month of Winter
I’ve grown to appreciate the stillness and silence of the winter months.
This year it was such a relief to be doing less. To spend more time with my kids who are growing so quickly. To spend an afternoon reading a book if I wanted to.
Winter is a luxury that I’m grateful to have.
The “work” I’m putting into myself right now won’t look like anything yet. But much like the seeds I’m planting, you’ll see the fruit of it later on.
February is the last month of winter. The calm before spring fever.
Spring will be here soon. And I’m ready for it.
For more of my garden notes and bouquet rankings, head to this page.