Cool-season weeds will grow in lawns even in the cold. Since the grass is dormant and mowing is not needed, the green weeds are noticeable against the turf. Do not use weed and feed (weed killer combined with a fertilizer). It is far too early to fertilize warm-season grasses. Just mow the weeds down occasionally. If you feel you must control them, use a lawn herbicide labeled for use on the type of grass you have. Apply during a mild spell, when daytime highs are above 60 degrees, and follow label directions carefully.

During this cold winter, water coming out of the tap can be really chilly. When watering your indoor plants, don’t just turn on the cold water faucet. Turn on both cold and hot and adjust the temperature of the water until it feels tepid or barely warm. This is healthier for tropical houseplants and will prevent spotting on African violet foliage.

There are several short-lived perennials that are commonly used as cool-season annuals in Louisiana. Although foxglove, delphinium and hollyhock may be reliable perennials in cooler zones, they have a hard time surviving our summers. Early planting is a key to success here. Transplants should be planted into the garden in February for bloom in April through early June. After flowering, foxgloves and delphiniums should be pulled up and composted. Hollyhocks are almost always infected by rust by the time they finish flowering, and should be disposed of in the trash rather than compost.

You’ve spent nine months getting ready for the arrival of your new baby, but don’t forget about your furry family companion.

Your dog is used to being the center of attention and can have a hard time relinquishing that spot. Making gradual changes to your dog’s routine along the way can help ease the transition and before long, your pup and your baby will be the best of friends.

To help dog owners in this exciting time, the American Kennel Club offers the following tips for introducing your dog to your new baby.

n Gradually alter your dog’s routine. Start making changes to your dog’s daily routine months before your baby is born. Will his walk be in the afternoon rather than the morning? Start getting him used to what life will be like when the baby comes home.

n The nose knows. Before you bring the baby home, introduce a blanket with the baby’s scent on it to your dog. Let him sniff and become used to it.

n The first meeting. Make sure your dog is well exercised before you introduce him to the baby. Have one parent hold the baby while the other controls the dog on leash.

n Make it a family affair. Include your dog whenever you can. Make sure to give him attention and affection while the baby is around. Take your dog along with you on walks with the baby.

n Always supervise interactions between children and dogs. You should never leave an infant or toddler alone with a dog. Even the most trusted family pet can be startled by a sudden scream or cry from your child.

New garden catalogs are arriving daily, telling me that it is time to start planning this year’s garden. Spring must be around the corner!

Of course tomatoes are at the top on my list of vegetables to grow. There is nothing like a homegrown tomato fresh from the garden. If you plan to grow your own veggie transplants, now is when you ought to be ordering seeds and getting ready to plant. Tomato seeds should be planted about six weeks before the anticipated date of planting outdoors.

When perusing seed catalogs, notice modern hybrid varieties, such as Burpee’s Better Boy or Big Boy, are not as popular as they once were. Today’s gardeners are clamoring for heirloom varieties because of their full flavor and attractive fruit of various colors and shapes. Specialty mail-order seed companies and even mainstream companies are offering an expanding list of heirloom tomatoes.

Modern hybrid tomato varieties were bred primarily for commercial field production. Breeders sought firm, uniform, deep red fruit and resistance to soil pathogens. They did not focus on flavor. As a result, some of the flavor we desire in a fresh tomato was lost during their development.

Heirloom tomatoes are older varieties that have been passed from one generation to another. Unlike modern hybrid tomatoes, heirlooms are open pollinated. The prime reason for the “growing” interest in heirlooms is their flavor. Many folks feel that heirlooms have more of the robust tomato taste.

Specialty mail-order seed companies that specialize in tomatoes are a good place to look for tomato varieties to grow. Totally Tomatoes (totallytomato.com) is offering a new series of tomatoes called the “Wild Boar Series” that are new introductions from a small organic farmer and breeder. The series is the result of crosses the farmer made from his favorites among hundreds of heirlooms and hybrids, and selecting the resulting crosses for their extreme flavor, interesting appearance and coloring.

Tomato Growers Supply (tomatogrowers.com) offers more than 500 varieties of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Tomato Fest (tomatofest.com) only offers organically grown heirloom tomatoes with a list of a 600 varieties including paste, dwarf, determinant, heart-shaped and, of course red, orange, yellow, green, striped, brown, purple and even blue varieties.

Many seed companies, even the big-name seed catalogs (like Burpee), are offering grafted tomatoes. A grafted tomato is one that has been fused together via the propagation method of grafting. This involves placing a desirable variety (scion) on top the roots of a different variety (rootstock). The scion grows into the upper part of the plant and produces fruit of the desirable variety. The rootstock grows into the root system and imparts that variety’s characteristics to the roots.

While heirlooms may have better tasting fruit, the plants lack resistance to certain soil pathogens bred into most modern hybrids. Grafted tomatoes allow tomato growers to grow tasty heirloom tomatoes on rootstock that is resistant to certain soil diseases. Many of these rootstocks also improve plant vigor and productivity.

So do not procrastinate, decide what to you want to grow and order your seed or grafted plants now.

— Marianne C. Ophardt is a horjticulturist for Washington State University Benton County Extension.

TOP 10 GARDEN PLANTS

Firstly, they have been inside for way too long since it was happy winters for you. So, get them ready for spring before making them grow. The first step in looking after your plants with onset of spring is dusting them. Remember, the light of sun will help them photosynthesize but how can dirty plants do that? So, clean it first as spring has sprung up.

Clean your Plants

It’s important to clean your plants before spring sets in. Dirty leaves can’t photosynthesize and hence can’t produce the food. Give them a slight shower using a sprinkler in an attempt to clean them. This process would also remove the insects from their bodies. A simple spring gardening tip is to tie a plastic bag to your plant’s base, to prevent it plant from getting over watered. This works best for your plants.

Cut Down Mineral Build-up

Despite having watered the plants, do they appear dull? There’s more you can do to look after your house plants in spring. The minerals in the water could be responsible for this happening. Rub the plants using a dry cloth to remove the minerals. You can even scrap off the minerals with your thumb. Just make sure you are not too hard on the plants. Clean the mineral off the pots too as they too can prove to be harmful to your plants

Sunlight

Once you have given the plants shower, let them dry. Keep them in a shaded place and allow them to dry there. Direct contact with sun can cause burning of these leaves. So, till they are not dry let them not return near the sun. Once dry, keep them on the window sill but, ensure the sill’s clean.

Feeding The Plant

Here’s an important spring gardening tip. There are house plants that don’t need feeding and then there are the flowering plants which need to be fed regularly. Give them liquid feeds regularly. If you are planning to move the plants to bigger pots, add some granules of fertilizer. Don’t over-feed the plant in anyway

Pruning Cleaning

Looking after houseplants includes this greatly. Pruning simply means removing the unwanted flowers and leaves from the plant. You can remove damaged or yellowing leaves using your thumb. Wayward branches should also be removed. Regularly clean your plants using cotton so that they remain dust free. Remember keeping them out in the sunlight can make them dirty due to the dust in the surroundings.

Trim Regularly

As mentioned spring is the season of growing for the plants. So make sure you trim the plants regularly so that they grow healthily. Do not forget this spring gardening tip – remove weeds, maverick shoots and unnecessary growths observed in the plant. Apply fertilisers regularly. Make sure the fertilisers you use are acidic soluble ones so that they don’t harm the plants much.

If the sunlight is too much, keep the houseplants a little shaded such that they get enough light but are not burnt in the process.