February Calendar 

Average temperature High 74 Low 51 

Rainfall 2.35 inches 

Central Florida?s average last frost date; February 15. 

What to plant 

Vegetables: Plant through mid-month; beets, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collards, endive, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, peas, potatoes, radishes, Swiss chard and turnips. After mid-month plant; beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, luffa, peppers, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes and watermelon. 

Flowers: Alyssum, aster, baby's breath, bacopa, begonia, candytuft, carnation, calendula, coneflower, coreopsis, cosmos, dahlia, delphinium, dianthus, diascia, dichondra, dusty miller, false heather, four o'clock, gaillardia, gaura, gazania, geranium, gerbera, Johnny-jump-up, lobelia, million bells, nasturtium, pansy, petunia, rose, salvia, snapdragon, Stokes aster, sweet pea, and yarrow. 

Herbs: anise, basil, borage, chives, dill, fennel, lemon balm, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, sweet marjoram, tarragon, and thyme. 

Bulbs: African iris, amaryllis, Amazon lily, Asiatic lily, blackberry lily, blood lily, bulbine, caladium, canna, crinum, day lily, gladiolus, gloriosa lily, Louisiana iris, society garlic, spider lily, rain lily. 

Lawn care 

? Zoysia and bahia lawns turned brown due to cold; no special care is needed at this time. 

? Mow zoysia lawn to recommended height of two inches and remove thick thatch. 

? Those brown spots in lawns are likely weeds; remove and resod when grass is available. 

? One way to control weeds is with regular mowing to reduce them to the height of the lawn. 

? Cool season weeds can also be spot treated with herbicides as labeled for your lawn type. 

? When previous brown patch disease has been noted, apply a fungicide for lawns in February. 

? Crabgrass preventers can be applied mid month to stop weedy grasses from germinating. 

? Do not use crabgrass preventers if you plan to resod, seed or need runner growth. 

? Seeding of ryegrass for a temporary lawn is over; most permanent lawns should recover soon. 

? Tan to brown cold damaged blades can be left or raked from lawns as growth begins. 

? Delay feedings of centipede and zoysia lawns until they regreen for spring in April. 

? Inspect irrigation systems; check for clogged or broken sprinkler heads and adjust as needed. 

? Sod or plug new lawns; begin seeding after mid month. 

? Turf is hard to establish in shady sites; consider another ground cover. 

? Take time to have a soil acidity test made and readjust the soil pH if needed. 

? Aeration can help older and overfertilized lawns with compacted soils, nematodes or hard to wet soils. 

? Service lawn care equipment before spring arrives.