FEBRUARY is a quiet time in the garden, it generally being our hottest month. Yet there's always something happening, even in the driest weather.
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This morning I awoke to discover a small Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), that I planted many years ago outside our bedroom window, had burst overnight into colourful bloom.
This is the cultivar "Tonto" that grows slowly to about three metres and has brilliant, fuchsia-pink flowers and shiny leaves that turn orange-red in autumn, even in dry conditions.
Not all members of the Lagerstroemia genus are frost hardy but L. indica is reliable in temperatures well below zero, though it is happiest in locations where hot sun can ripen the wood.
It has been cultivated in China for centuries and even survives the ferociously cold, dry winters of Beijing, a good test of hardiness.
Having been enticed into the garden by "Tonto" I made the most of the dawn cool and collected some seeds. Hot dry weather has produced good crops of some of my favourite annuals, including a sweet pea "Wiltshire Ripple" that was supposed to flower in a discreet shade of pink with red streaks but in the event produced several different colours including dark brown.
I'll be fascinated to see what comes up next year. It will be just my luck if it reverts to plain old purple; never mind, as long as it keeps its scent.
February is a good month to look out for seeds. It sounds obvious but try to choose a day with no wind and only collect from healthy plants with pods that look as though they're about to split.
Cut off the entire seed head, pop it upside down in a paper bag and leave to dry until the pods have opened and you can shake out the seeds.
Store seeds in envelopes and label them before you forget - all too easy in my case.
February is a good month to divide bearded irises, but only if you can be sure of keeping the re-planted divisions watered. Irises are incredibly drought-hardy but any newly-divided plant must be kept damp until it has made new roots.
Irises are easy to divide if you remember rhizomes only flower once. Isolate those plants that are carrying dead flowering stems, dig them up and detach and replant the small rhizomes that have sprouted from the parent.
Add lime or dolomite if you have acid soil, and a handful of blood and bone. Irises need dividing after about three years or they expand into massive clumps that are choked with dead rhizomes and gradually produce fewer flowers.
Watering is a major February chore, especially pots that dry out like lightning. Also, if you have goldfish, keep their pond water topped up or it may get too hot for them.
It's also important to keep the water oxygenated. A bubble fountain loses less to evaporation than a spray, or you can drop in an oxygenating plant.
Be wary of these, though, as some are highly invasive and will soon cover the surface of a small pond and deprive its inhabitants of essential light.
Lastly, pruning. Cut back wisteria and jasmine in early February, also roses that you hope might flower in autumn, weather permitting.
Pruning shrubs to help them through the drought is working well for me. I was worried they might re-shoot and therefore need extra water, but this hasn't happened.
I've cut them mostly by half to two thirds, and to date all are surviving.
Flemings Nurseries offer numerous forms of Crepe Myrtle, including "Tonto".
Fiona Ogilvie is The Land's gardening columnist.
