The 5 Sought-After Plants a Professional Gardener Always Buys in February – Before They Sell Out
What I order early every year to be sure my garden is well-stocked for summer
February is often when professional gardeners order new plants. It may seem early, but there's method behind it: popular or rarer varieties always sell out quickly. To ensure you get the best of the best for your borders, I've put together this list of plants to buy now to avoid disappointment. The list includes my favorites: unusual varieties of dahlias, high-yielding potatoes, beautiful sweet peas, as well as coveted snowdrop cultivars and popular bare-root fruit trees, which you still have time to plant.
My advice is don’t rest on your laurels; even if you have different varieties or cultivars you want to plant in your garden this year than those on my list, get them ordered soon. If you add this enjoyable shopping task to your list of February gardening jobs, you can avoid disappointment.
1. Dahlias
Buy dahlias from reputable nurseries and websites to guarantee healthy tubers
Dahlias are nowadays one of the most popular flowers; they are enjoying a real renaissance as gardeners around the globe have truly rekindled their love for these stunning flowers.
There are over 40 species and thousands of varieties and hybrids, ranging from neat pompons to the outlandish, spikey double blooms of cactus dahlias. With all the types of dahlias that come in a rainbow of vibrant colors, you can pick a style, size, and shade that suits your backyard ideas.
The best traits to consider are coloring, productivity, resistance to pests and diseases, and types with strong stems (especially if you are growing them as cut flowers). But those that tick all the best boxes are hugely popular, and gardeners are known to adore showy decorative or dinner-plate dahlias.
Get flicking through the catalogues or websites and order your dahlias sooner rather than later. You can sleep soundly knowing that you can plant the dahlias you really want when the temperatures warm in spring.
See the selection of dahlia tubers at Dutch Grown
See the selection of dahlia tubers at Amazon
See the selection of dahlia tubers at Burpee Gardening
2. Potatoes
Use seed potatoes as they are certified as disease-free. Avoid using store-bought potatoes sold for cooking
You grow potatoes from seed potatoes, which most people purchase in late winter or early spring. But popular potatoes need to be ordered even earlier than that, as there are those eager growers who reserve them early.
In previous years, I have missed out on particular high-yielding or unique seed potatoes (such as when I wanted to grow purple potatoes) as I delayed ordering them. True, there are lots of different varieties of potatoes you can grow, but it is disappointing if you had your heart set on a particular one.
There are three types of potatoes, which are separated by when you plant and harvest potatoes. These are first earlies, second earlies, and maincrop potatoes.
Early potatoes are best purchased well in advance of planting, so you can get on with chitting potatoes. This involves putting them in an egg box on a warm windowsill for six weeks to develop shoots before you plant the potatoes, which helps you have a longer season and larger harvests.
See the selection of seed potatoes at Burpee Gardening
See the selection of seed potatoes at Amazon
3. Bare-Root Fruit
There is a wide range of fruit trees available to buy bare-root during dormancy
Bare-root offers a budget-friendly way to add fruit trees to your garden. They are cheaper than container-grown fruit trees and also tend to come in a wider selection of varieties than you traditionally see grown in pots at garden centers or online.
The season to plant bare-root trees runs from November to late winter or early spring. The later you get into this dormancy window, the fewer options you may have.
It doesn’t mean there isn’t a good selection of fruit to plant in late February or March, but you do run the risk of not having a wide variety to choose from.
If you do want to plant fruit trees, bare-root is a great option. Ideally, you plant the tree straight away after arriving. However, if the soil is not workable, such as frozen or waterlogged, you can heel in bare-root plants for a few weeks until conditions improve.
See the selection of bare-root fruit trees at Amazon
4. Snowdrops
There are hundreds of named snowdrop cultivars to pick from
You can plant these spring bulbs in the fall, as dry, dormant bulbs. But arguably the best way to plant snowdrop bulbs is ‘in the green’, or after flowering in early spring.
The term ‘planting snowdrops in the green’ stems from the fact that they still have their green leaves, and many snowdrop growers find this is the most successful way to split and establish new clumps.
If you want to get snowdrops to grow in this way, they are available to order from December through February. However, popular or sought-after varieties tend to go quickly and are not available in large quantities.
There are galanthophiles (people who are deeply passionate about snowdrops) who collect and pay eye-watering sums for rarer snowdrops. Indeed, one collector paid over $2,500 for a Galanthus plicatutus ‘Golden Tears’ in 2022.
We’re not suggesting you splash big money on buying rare snowdrops, but if you do want to plant snowdrops, doing so in the green is the best way to get them established, and the window to buy them isn’t open for long.
5. Sweet Peas
You can save sweet pea seeds of your chosen types to grow year after year
Gardeners around the globe love growing sweet peas, and for good reason. They can fill a flower bed with height, fragrance, and beauty. And sweet peas are one of the easiest flowers to grow from seed.
You can plant sweet peas in fall, late winter, or early spring. You can even sow them during winter if you have a greenhouse and extra equipment like heat mats and grow lights to keep them healthy.
But you need to be smart with ordering seeds. There is high demand for the seed packets, so some of the rarer or more unique sweet pea varieties can sell out early. If you are after deeply-scented flowers, darker-colored blooms, heirloom varieties, or striking bi-colored sweet peas, secure them while you can.
Thankfully, there are over a thousand different species of sweet peas to pick from, and a wide range of seeds available at garden centers or online.
It can be simple to get a great display of these romantic cottage garden plants, but if you have your heart set on any particular varieties, get them now.
See the range of sweet pea seeds at Burpee Gardening
See the range of sweet pea seeds at True Leaf Market
See the range of sweet pea seeds at Botanical Interests
See the range of sweet pea seeds at Amazon
If you are feeling proactive and want to spend some time this month getting new plants for the future, then it can be a great time to take plant cuttings.
This guide to plants to propagate in winter highlights 11 popular shrubs you can take cuttings off in late winter, and the reward is lots of new plants for free.
Where to Shop:
- Dutch Grown – founded in 1882, it remains one of the best specialist retailers of bulbs and perennials
- Burpee Gardening – founded in 1876, Burpee is a trusted retailer of vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers, and perennials
- Botanical Interests – get your vegetable, flower, and herb seeds from a retailer with USDA organic certification
- True Leaf Market – an independent non-GMO seed company that provides a wide range of seeds and supplies to gardeners
- Amazon – find all your gardening supplies, from seeds and live plants to tools and safety wear
Perennial, or everlasting, sweet peas have all the charm of annuals, but return each year. The climbing plants can be grown in zones 3-8 and attract lots of pollinators.
This organic seed starting mix is made from natural coconut coir and is an ideal medium for growing flowers, vegetables, and herbs from seed.
This hori hori knife is made in Japan and has a sharp steel blade. The versatile tool can be used for cutting, weeding, or planting in the garden.
