Planting In January
January can be one of the quietest months for outdoor planting due to the risk of hard frosts but as the month goes by the days will gradually get longer. You may not notice this but your garden plants will.
You may be able to do some outdoor planting if you have a greenhouse and you can be sure it will be kept frost free but it is still risky considering the very cold winters we have experienced over the last few years.
Seeds That Can Be Sown Outdoors
Cosmos, Clarkia, Alyssum, Phlox, Arctotis, Mimulus, Chrysanthemum, Calliopsis, Bellis, Coreopsis, Dahlia, Convolvulus, Cleome, Calendula, Pinks, Dimorphotheca, Nasturtium, Linaria, Gilia, Gomphrena, Stevia, Mallow, Gypsophila, Collinsia, Phacelia, Larkspur, Verbena, Abronia, Callistephus, Antirrhinum, Lupine, Ageratum, Sweetpea, Eschscholtzia, Carnation, Centaurea, Primula, Scabiosa, Godetia, Petunia.
Mature Plants That Can Be Planted Outdoors
Pansies, Coreopsis, Centaurea, Geum, Arctotis, Primula, Bellis, Viola, Heuchera, Myosotis, Dimorphotheca, Iceland, Poppy, Antirrhinum, Verbena, Petunia, Cynoglossum, Alyssum, Carnation, Scabiosa, Stocks, Pinks, Canterburybells, Calendula.
Other Jobs
Although you will not be planting much there are still many jobs to do in your garden this month to keep you busy :
- Pruning - January is a good month for pruning shrubs and deciduous trees. A good unseen benefit to this is that you can bring flowering tree branches into your home and allow them to blossom early.
- Mulching - If you haven't done it yet wait no longer than the end of January to do it.
- Feed the birds - January can be a very hard tough month for them and if you don't already have one consider getting bird feeder.
- House Plants - you will probably giving more attention to your house plants through midwinter than you garden plants. Due to our liberal use of central heating these winter months can cause the indoor air to be too dry so it is important to group you indoor plant together or increase the humidity some other way.
- Digging over - If you didn't do it in December the pick a nice day this month to get it done.
- Prepare for the year ahead.