February ’26: Winter is long for a gardener
Spring may be coming, but planting season is still so far away!
My first two years here in the Northeast, winter didn’t really feel longer than any other season. Now that I’ve gotten serious about making a garden, it seems impossibly long. Here we are at the end of February, and yes, spring is technically just around the corner. It feels like forever since I dug those last few little holes in the ground in October and organized things for the dormant stretch ahead; buds are now starting to swell on the trees, and we can expect to start seeing branches blooming in four or five weeks. My favorite moment. And yet it’s still more than two months until we can safely start planting again!
I get why people start seeds indoors here — not just because the growing season is short and you want to get a jump on it, but as a way to have some sort of garden-related activity to do while we wait. And wait. For planting weather to come. A tactile way to be back in touch with one’s gardening self.
Last month’s mega-snow is still blanketing the asphalt out back, and I’ve had my hands full with a family project, which means I’ve still yet to get any bids on removing said asphalt to make way for the courtyard garden. I’m not prepared to start any seeds indoors this year, but I have been working on my plant shopping list for the courtyard. The second most budget-friendly thing after seeds is planting from plugs, and I’ve found a good local resource with most of my grasses and forbs lists available at plug size, for just a couple bucks each. And I’ve also made my shortlist of the few larger shrubs to source once the nurseries reopen. I won’t actually receive my plugs order until late May or June (gah!) so I’m glad to have asphalt, gravel and the bigger plants to occupy me in the meantime. As soon as the snow melts ...
WEATHER
Until the BLIZZARD WARNING on Sun/Mon (which didn’t live up to the hype here), we’d had only a single dusting of snow since the ~2' in late Jan. Regardless, it’s been almost entirely below freezing up until last week, so most of that January snow has hung around, now holding up this week’s fresh layers. Which is to say, it’s been a far colder and snowier winter than we’ve experienced here before. We did get a proper “warm” (37°) rain on top of the snow blanket just before the non-blizzard, which lowered its profile a bit. But with the additional few inches this week, the taller plow mounds might be with us ’til April.
Highest high temp: 48° on Feb 17 (might be a degree warmer tomorrow)
Lowest high temp: 18° on Feb 7
Lowest low temp: -3° on Feb 8
Average high temp: 39°
MARCH TO-DOs
• Rough out the actual planting plan for the courtyard (part 1 coming next week)
• Finish and send plugs order
• Get asphalt removal bids
• Decide/source the raised bed or container for corner of house/courtyard
• Get the courtyard project started
