January is generally colder and wetter than December in my part of the world, the mood of the garden sometimes changing from minute to minute affecting its plants and their design. Frost and snow sometimes bring fleeting pleasure as does early morning mist.
Apart from a bit of winter pruning the most important thing I aim to do this month is order seeds. Annuals and biennials are always worth the effort of growing them and every year is the chance to try something new. I also grow many perennials from seed; either because they are difficult to purchase as plants or because I need them in large numbers. I will also be ordering summer flowering bulbs soon, but that can wait until next month when the new catalogues appear.
Key Plants
As in December it will be the seed heads of grasses and perennials amidst the structure formed by hedges, trees, shrubs and above all else evergreens that will define the garden this month. Some early flowering bulbs might lift our hopes this month especially if the weather is kind. There are many early flowering snowdrop cultivars such as ‘Atkinsii’ and ‘Colossus’ that appear long before the main show in February. Crocus and Iris reticulata may also make an appearance this month, but these are unlikely to make a dramatic impact in the wider garden landscape. Daffodils are far more effective and for a number of years now I find that Narcissus ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’ can start opening some of its flowers in late December and that by mid January the grassy sloped surrounding my home are a sheet of bright colour. In such cool conditions these same flowers seem to last for weeks on end, well into February.
Narcissus ‘Rijnveld’s Early Sensation’
The longer I garden the more I appreciate ferns and in winter they always draw attention to themselves. Many ferns are deciduous and collapse in autumn until they reappear in spring, but there are many that remain fresh and green in winter. In particular Dryopteris, Polystichum and Polypodium being the most important here. I have different species of these dotted around the garden where in summer they form an interesting part of a mixture of different ground-covering perennials. However, in winter they assume a far more important role when everything else around them has died back or has become a bleached silhouette of its former self.
Polystichum setiferum ‘Plumosum Bevis’
Polystichum munitum
This blog post is from – 60 YEARS A GARDENER, a new eBook from Michael King relating his experience and gardening knowledge gained over more than 60 years.
Each month of the year is celebrated in text and photographs taken in his own and other gardens from around the world over the last 25 years.
60 YEARS A GARDENER – € 9.99
