Hey there, gardening friends. Today we’re talking about what to do in the first half of February, especially after the big ice storm we just had. This episode, as always, is sponsored by my landscape consulting business, atxgardens.com. So let’s jump in.

On the last episode, I talked about how wacky the warm weather had been, and then since then we had an ice storm and some extremely cold temperatures. We got down into the teens in most areas of Central Texas, which is really challenging.

It’s difficult for gardeners when we have extreme cold, but from my perspective, as someone who has a lot of experience with this kind of weather, I feel like this particular storm was mostly good. There’s going to be some plant loss for sure, most likely succulents.

Plants like agaves, prickly pears, and certain types of yuccas. A lot of cacti are probably going to turn to mush and may not grow back, although prickly pears typically make it through and often recover. Other succulents usually don’t fare so well in the cold, and they’re often the first ones to show damage after a hard freeze.

Once they thaw out, they can look like a pile of mush because they’re mostly water. That’s why I don’t really keep succulents in my yard anymore. The only ones I keep are in pots so I can protect them, or they’re low-value plants where I’m okay if they freeze.

With how cold it got — and as of this recording, it’s still expected to stay cold for a few more days — rosemary and other Mediterranean herbs that were left out in the cold are likely dead and probably won’t grow back. If you have Mediterranean herbs like rosemary, certain types of thyme, or oregano, and they look dead, they’re probably not coming back and should be removed.

Any citrus that was exposed to temperatures below 20 degrees is probably going to die unless it was very well protected. Even then, covers only provide so much protection — usually about 10 degrees at best. So if it dropped to 16 degrees in your area, that still means it was around 26 degrees under the cover, which is cold enough to kill citrus.

You’ll really know in April whether citrus is going to grow back. If your citrus was grafted, it will not grow back as the same tree. The rootstock may resprout, and you could graft onto it, but it won’t produce the fruit you want. If the citrus was on its own roots and not grafted, it’s possible it could grow back from the ground.

So you’ll need to wait until late April to know for sure. We’ll also see how figs did. I haven’t gone out yet to closely inspect my fig trees. Woody plants take a while to show cold damage, so just relax and wait a bit. Once things thaw, we’ll be able to see if there are dead sections.

In past storms — the ice storm in 2023 and the winter storm in 2021 — we also saw damage on certain native trees like palo verde, Texas mountain laurel, shumard oak, and red oaks. It remains to be seen how those species fared this time. I haven’t taken a close look yet, but keep listening to the podcast and I’ll share updates as I observe more damage around town. For now, there’s no need to take action.

The upside of a deep freeze like this is that winter maintenance on native and well-adapted plants, fruit trees, and roses becomes much more straightforward now that the plants have been forced into dormancy. That’s what I’m going to focus on for the rest of the episode.

Let’s start with woody plants. Ice may have broken some branches on your trees. If that’s the case and you can do so safely, you can remove broken branches by cutting below the crack, either back to the next branch or where the branch meets the trunk.

It’s still a good time for tree and shrub planting as long as you’re planting native or well-adapted species. Wait until mid-March to plant Mediterranean trees like figs or tropical plants like bougainvillea, but native and well-adapted trees can go in now.

It is rose pruning time all through the month of February. If you’re unsure about rose pruning, you can book a consultation with me and I can prune roses with you and show you how to do it at your house. Make an appointment at atxgardens.com.

I’m going to give a brief overview of rose pruning here, but the most important thing to understand is why we prune roses. Don’t just rush out into the garden because I said it’s time — you need to understand your objective.

We prune roses to remove dead branches that can harbor disease, to remove crossing branches that create wounds and entry points for pests, and to increase air and light penetration into the center of the plant. Roses are very prone to insects and disease, and good airflow helps prevent both.

Pruning also encourages more blooms, increases vigor, extends the plant’s life, and helps control size and shape so roses don’t outgrow their space or block walkways.

Here’s a general overview of how to prune roses. First, remove all dead or diseased branches completely. Second, remove branches that cross back into the center of the plant. You want the plant to have a vase shape, with branches growing outward and an open center.

There are exceptions. Some roses, like Martha Gonzales or Highway 290 Pink Buttons, have many small branches growing inward and it’s nearly impossible to remove them all. In those cases, do your best, but don’t stress about perfection.

Next, reduce the height of the plant by removing the top third to half. This keeps roses from becoming too tall and leggy and keeps blooms at eye level.

For older shrub roses, you may want to remove entire thick, woody branches from the base to encourage new growth. I often remove branches that are thicker than my index finger. This kind of rejuvenation pruning can feel drastic, but it really improves plant vigor.

I have before-and-after photos on my website showing a pruned and unpruned rose side by side so you can see how dramatic it looks. You’ll also want good rose pruning gloves to protect your arms from thorns — I’ll link those in the show notes.

Up next, fruit trees. In past episodes, I’ve talked about chill hours, and the cold snap we just had is actually very beneficial for fruit trees that need longer chill periods to bloom. Cold weather also makes it much easier to prune apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, and Japanese persimmons because they’re fully dormant now.

Fruit tree pruning is similar to rose pruning, but don’t remove more than 25% of the tree in one year. Be sure to remove any branches growing from below the graft point. Most fruit trees are grafted, meaning the top of the tree is a different variety than the roots. Any growth coming from below that graft will not produce good fruit and should be removed.

A helpful pruning tip: more horizontal branches produce more fruit. Fruit tree pruning can be intimidating, and there are many correct ways to do it. If you’d like help, I offer consultations at atxgardens.com.

You’ll need good orchard loppers, which I’ll link in the show notes. I’m also an Amazon affiliate and earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

If you have a fruit tree you love that produces great fruit, you can harvest scions — pencil-sized cuttings — while you’re pruning. Store them in a zip-top bag with a damp paper towel, label them with the species, variety, and date, and keep them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. These scions can be grafted in March or shared with other gardeners.

Central Texas Seed Savers is also hosting a fruit tree scion swap in February, and I’ll share more details at the end of the episode.

February is a great time to plant stone fruits like peaches, plums, apricots, and nectarines; pome fruits like apples, pears, and quince; and nut trees like pecans and walnuts.

After pruning, feed roses and fruit trees according to your soil test results. Adding a layer of wood chips out to the drip line helps protect roots and improve soil health.

Now for our mid-episode sponsor break.

Hey y’all, this is Colleen Dieter with atxgardens.com. If you want personalized help with your landscape, book a consultation and we’ll walk your yard together and create a plan that feels doable. Recently I worked with first-time homeowners, helping them identify plants, care for shade trees, and choose the right tools. Visit atxgardens.com for more information.

Now back to the episode.

With the hard freeze behind us, it’s much clearer that it’s time to cut back perennials. February is a good time to do it, ideally before March 1, when many plants begin regrowing. It’s easier to prune before new growth starts.

That said, dead plant tops can sometimes protect new growth from cold damage. Cutting back too early can expose tender growth if we get another hard freeze. You’ll need to balance that risk with your time, energy, and willingness to replace plants.

Wildlife-focused gardeners often wait until March to cut back because insects overwinter in hollow stems and plant debris. Caterpillars, for example, pupate inside dead stems.

This freeze likely damaged cool-season perennials like yarrow and spiderwort, but they usually recover. Some bulbs, like Dutch iris, may skip blooming this year if they were badly damaged, but they should return next year.

Moving on to the vegetable garden: this is a busy time. First, assess damage and decide whether to remove everything and prep for March planting, or replant cool-season crops like lettuce, collards, carrots, beets, turnips, and radishes.

Vegetables that were badly damaged by cold usually don’t recover well, but use your judgment.

February is also prime time for planting peas, including snow peas and sugar snap peas. I like growing peas for their shoots rather than the pods — I harvest them as salad greens and skip building trellises altogether.

Now is also the time to plant onion sets — small baby onions planted directly in the garden that grow into scallions and eventually full bulbs by early summer.

It’s also potato planting season. Potatoes are one of the most fun crops to grow, with countless varieties. I recommend Howard Garrett’s book Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening for detailed guidance — I’ll link it in the show notes.

February is also the time to plant artichokes, asparagus, blackberries, and strawberries from bare-root crowns.

There’s still time to start seeds indoors for warm-season crops that need more than 80 days to mature, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and tomatillos. Start them indoors now and plant out in mid-March once the freeze risk has passed.

Finally, join me on February 15 from 1–4 PM at Texas Keeper Cidery for the Central Texas Seed Savers Annual Fruit Tree Scion Swap. Bring fruit tree scions or just come learn, share, and connect. We usually have more scions than people.

That wraps up today’s episode. Check the show notes for links to everything mentioned, and if you enjoyed the podcast, please share it with a fellow Central Texas gardener. I’m Colleen with atxgardens.com. See you next time.