• Trim summer blooming shrubs including butterfly bush, Knockout® Roses, and oleander.
• Do not trim hydrangeas. Their stems may look dead but they contain this spring’s flower buds.
• Avoid the temptation to severely cut back crape myrtle. Instead only remove crossing or broken branches and cut off old seed pods.
• Take hardwood cuttings from shrubs. Crape myrtle, viburnum, and figs are very easy to root this way.
• Prune shade trees and shrubs to remove crossing branches.

• Order spring planted bulbs such as caladiums and lilies.
• Start seeds of warm season annuals indoors to have plants ready for April.
• Valentine’s Day is your prompt to prune your roses. Prune ever-blooming and Knockout® Roses severely to force new growth; thin out older canes on climbing varieties.
• Begin a fungicide spray program for disease prone rose varieties when new leaves appear or replace with hardier varieties like Knockouts.

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