TEXAS

Beautiful Roses
Put roses to work in your garden. Provide enclosure with 4- to 6-foot hedges of old-fashioned Southern favorites such as 'Old Blush,' 'Mrs. B.R. Cant,' 'Buff Beauty,' 'Cramoisi Supérieur,' or 'Mutabilis.' For lower-growing hedges and specimens, try 'The Fairy,' 'Marie Pavie,' or 'La Marne.' Create garden pictures with climbing roses such as Lady Banks's, 'Cl. Cécile Brunner,' 'Cl. Cramoisi Supérieur,' or 'Peggy Martin.' Select a sunny location for your roses, and prepare the bed by using two parts soil to one part peat, composted pine bark, or your own compost. Incorporate 4 to 5 pounds of cottonseed meal or alfalfa meal into the top 8 to 10 inches of soil as the organic material. Beds and individual planting holes can be prepared ahead of time. You can purchase these roses by mail-order from The Antique Rose Emporium (www.antiqueroseemporium.com). Check your local nursery too.

Panhandle
Fruit--It is the ideal time to plant fruit trees. Japanese persimmons such as 'Fuyu' are low-maintenance additions to the landscape. Pomegranates and figs are also easily grown and require little attention after being established. 'Celeste' and 'Texas Everbearing' are the two most popular figs for our region.

Invest in trees--A few well-chosen trees can make a huge difference in the appearance and value of a property. Among the best trees for our region are bur oak, Chinese pistache, Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia), cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia), and bald cypress.

Central, West, and South
Pretty blooms--Plant perennials now for spring and summer blooms. Yarrows (white, lavender, red, or yellow), purple coneflowers, daylilies, crinums, 'Texas Gold' columbines, and ox-eye daisies are all dependable sources for years of color in our region.

South
Cool-weather annuals--Start 'Bibb,' 'Buttercrunch,' and other lettuces from seeds or transplants for early harvest. Arugula and cilantro can also be set out now. Be sure to keep the young seedlings well watered during dry periods.

Entire State
Pruning--Trim dormant trees and shrubs now. Begin by removing dead or weak growth. Then remove limbs that are rubbing against each other. Maintain the natural form of the plant unless you are working with a hedge or topiary. Hedges should be slightly broader at their bases to allow better light distribution to the lower part of the plants. Crepe myrtles are often pruned poorly. Remove seedheads by cutting stems back about a foot, thin out twiggy growth from the inside areas, and select three to five of the healthiest trunks to remain.

North and East
Perennial care--Trim frost-damaged perennials to within a few inches of the ground. Aromatic asters (Aster oblongifolius), Mexican mint marigolds, and Mexican bush sage will look much neater in the garden if cut back now.

Time To Prune
Just like birddogs and husbands, shade trees need training. Only in this case, you can't use a rolled-up newspaper. Training trees means removing, thinning, or shortening selected branches.

For most deciduous shade trees, winter is a great time to prune because with the leaves off, you can easily see which branches need work. (Don't prune maples and birches now, though, or they'll "bleed" sap. Do it in summer.)