Florida Garden Checklist
Texas Garden Checklist

Indoor Blooms
There are lots of affordable, flowering plants available to brighten your home during the winter months. African violets, primroses, and kalanchoes come in cheerful shades you will love and are available in garden centers and nurseries. Care is simple. Place them in indirect light, away from heating vents. Soil should be well-drained and kept slightly moist. Do not allow plants to sit in saucers of water.

Tip: Set plants in brightly glazed pots, and enhance the colors of their blossoms by mixing them with the illuminating foliage of rex begonias.

To learn more about carefree foliage for your home, see "Easygoing Houseplants."

• Birds--This is a great time to view our feathered friends. Feed such as millet, thistle, and sunflower seeds will attract a wide range of birds. Hang feeders at least 5 feet off the ground. Water for drinking and bathing is appreciated. Nearby shrubs and trees provide places for refuge from the weather and future nesting sites.
• Fragrance--Add a little perfume to your yard. Try winter daphne (Daphne odora), growing 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide, and wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), growing 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Another good choice is winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima), growing 8 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Plant them near entryways to enjoy the fragrance. Buy them now at garden centers, or order them from Woodlanders, Inc. ([803] 648-7522 or www.woodlanders.net).
• Seeds--Order seeds now for your spring garden to get the unusual or best selections.
• Camellias--In the Middle, Lower, and Coastal South, add common camellias (Camellia japonica) to your garden while they are in bloom, as long as the ground is not frozen. Early-blooming selections include 'Debutante,' 'Lady Clare,' and 'Daikagura.' Midseason selections include 'Kramer's Supreme,' 'Nuccio's Pearl,' 'Pink Perfection,' and 'Swan Lake.' Late-blooming selections include 'Purity' and 'Betty Sheffield Supreme.' The container-grown plants transition easier into the garden. Camellias prefer well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Plant in an area sheltered from sun and drying winds.
• Greens--Continue to harvest collards and kale. Harvest regularly by pinching off the leaves from the bottom up so that the plants will continue to grow.
• Garden notebook--Start the new year with a garden journal. Note the weather, plants in bloom, chores completed, and plants you added to your garden. Over time, these monthly observations will sharpen your gardening skills.

Garden Checklist (for all Southern states except Florida and Texas)
Texas Garden Checklist

Hollies
Plant hollies now for colorful winter berries. Types with showy red fruit that will grow throughout the state include dahoon holly (Ilex cassine), round holly (I. rotunda), yaupon holly (I. vomitoria), and Chinese hollies (I. cornuta), such as Burford and 'Dwarf Burford.' In North and Central Florida, you can also include American holly (I. opaca) and its many selections such as 'East Palatka,' 'Howard,' 'Savannah,' and 'Lake City' (orange berries). Plant in partial shade to full sun and in well-drained soil.

Entire State

• Fertilizing--To keep winter annuals blooming, feed them on a monthly basis or as directed on the container. You can use a fertilizer such as Scotts All Purpose Flower & Vegetable Slow Release Plant Food 10-10-10 or Osmocote Outdoor & Indoor Slow Release Plant Food 19-6-12. Water annuals approximately twice a week when there's no rain.

North

• Landscape shrubs--Add lots of interest to your garden with new types of shrubs. Consider 'Endless Summer' French hydrangea, which grows to about 5 feet tall and blooms continuously throughout the summer in partial shade. Another new hydrangea that produces flowers on both new and old wood is 'Dooley.' In sunny spots, try shrub roses such as 'Knock Out' in either fuchsia or pink. They grow vigorously to about 4 feet tall, bloom repeatedly, and are very resistant to leaf spot diseases. This shrub rose produces numerous small blooms. It is drought tolerant, making it an ideal candidate for home landscapes.

Central

• Flowering trees--Need to replace trees lost to the hurricanes of the past year? To beautify your landscape, consider Hong Kong orchid tree (Bauhinia x blakeana), senna (Senna bicapsularis), golden shower (Cassia fistula), floss silk tree (Chorisia speciosa), jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), copperpod (Peltophorum dubium), and yellow poinciana (P. pterocarpum).

Central and South

• Pruning--Both evergreen and deciduous shrubs and trees can be trimmed now. The exception would be those plants such as azaleas or trumpet trees (Tabebuia sp.), that bloom in early spring on old wood. Wait until after spring bloom to prune them.

South

• Lawns--Grasses are growing slowly now, so cut your irrigation back to only one or two deep waterings per week, depending on the amount of rainfall that you have received. Overwatering your lawn can encourage weed problems.

GARDEN CHECKLIST FOR TEXAS
By William C. Welch

Garden Checklist (for all Southern states except Florida and Texas)
Florida Garden Checklist

Roses
Roses are one of our finest sources of garden color. They like sun and will perform best where they receive at least a half day of direct sunlight. Roses also like fertile, well-drained soil and open areas having good air circulation. Container-grown, bare-root, and packaged roses can all be transplanted successfully now. Old garden roses and new easy-care types such as 'Knock Out' (fuchsia), 'Carefree Beauty' (pink), 'Red Cascade,' and the 'Flower Carpet' series need no more attention than ordinary landscape shrubs. Consider roses for hedges, arbors, containers, and accent plants.

Entire State

• Pecans--Plant our Texas state tree now while it is completely dormant. Smaller fruiting types, such as 'Caddo' for East Texas and 'Sioux' for the West, are ideal for the home landscape. 'Kanza' is adapted for Lubbock and Amarillo areas.

Panhandle

• Indoor blooms--African violets, primroses, and kalanchoes come in cheerful shades you will love. Care is simple. Place in indirect light, away from heating vents. Soil should be well-drained and kept slightly moist. To learn more about carefree foliage for your home, see "Easygoing Houseplants."

Central, East, and South

• Seeds--Start tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants soon (six to nine weeks before planting outside) if you grow them from seeds. Garden centers and nurseries will have a good selection of the usual transplants, but starting from seed may be the only option for unusual types, such as 'Neon' and 'Casper' eggplants or heirloom tomatoes such as 'Arkansas Traveler' or 'Green Grape.' Plant colorful pepper selections such as 'Cherry Bomb,' 'Lipstick,' 'Chocolate Beauty,' and 'Jingle Bells' now.

Central, West, and South

• Flowering trees--Select and plant small flowering trees now so they will be well-established before summer. Among the best choices are Texas redbud, desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora), Parkinsonia, and crepe myrtle.

South

• Flowering shrubs--Among the best colorful shrubs for planting now are oleander, hummingbird bush (Hamelia patens), esperanza (Tecoma stans), Turk's cap hibiscus, Chinese hibiscus, and blue plumbago. Plant spectacular bougainvilleas now. They may be pruned like shrubs or allowed to grow as vines.

North

• Camellias--Plant these winter-blooming shrubs now. Sasanqua camellias are ideal as hedges and usually flower from September through January. Common camellia (Camellia japonica) blooms from midwinter till early spring. A hard frost may damage buds and flowers if the plants are not protected by tall trees or a sheltered location. Some traditional favorites include 'Pink Perfection,' 'Purple Dawn,' and 'Professor Sargent.