Verdant View – January 2025

Hope Springs Eternal

Normally I am excited at the prospect of a new year: new calendars, new plans, a new verdant view. For gardeners, we also have a rebirth of our gardens to look forward to. This year seems different. My friends are complaining that they are having to learn new things daily. Their resources are being depleted faster than they would like. They have lost hope in their world leaders and don’t understand the state of the world.

I find hope in nature. The winter here can be glorious and delightful. Gardeners, animals and plants love the sun. We can actually enjoy the sunshine instead of hiding from it. And now is a great time to plan and plant a new garden particularly one that will be located in a sunny place. In winter, the weather is gentle on tender new plants. Get as many new plants in as you can to establish them before the summer heat arrives.

At this time of year less water is needed to establish new plants but good watering practices are important. Don’t overwater now as this will lead to rotting as plants are not transpiring as much. Do water the entire root zone, don’t just splash the surface. Deeper watering encourages deeper roots and makes plants much better able to withstand the hot and dry times. Watering in the mornings rather than the evenings is a good idea now too.

When planning and planting a new garden in winter, be aware of the position of the summer sun. It can be very different now as the sun is much lower in the sky and the shadows cast by trees and buildings deeper. This may mean that an area in full shade now, may be in full sun by midsummer. Choosing plants for these areas can be challenging. As long as the plants can tolerate a short period of shade, they will last the winter.

Our seasonal changes are certainly not extreme here. Subtropical gardeners can certainly garden now and rejoice in this delightful weather.

What to plant in January

The weather is cold at night and in the early mornings, but warms up nicely in the afternoon. Every few years there are January rains, called Cabanuelas, but don’t count on them. At the viveros, look for pansies, petunias, stocks and bergenia. For the flower garden, from seed try Brugmansia (syn. Datura) Angel’s Trumpet, corydalis for its attractive foliage, michauxia with its exuberant, white flowers and Lady’s mantle for future flower arranging.

​At this time of year we rely and look for every leaf of lettuce and spinach, every broccoli floret, every kohlrabi and cabbage, every Brussels sprout. We’re either glad we’d planted so much in the late summer and fall or regretting that we didn’t plant enough.

You may want to prune your roses and do the first pruning on the poinsettias late in the month. Continue watering when necessary, remembering that the native plants know it’s the dry season.

Indoors, sow more broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, chamomile, caraway, cauliflower, chervil, chives, coriander (cilantro), dill, fennel, lettuces, marjoram, mint, oregano, curly-leafed parsley, sage, spinaches, tarragon, and thyme.

Perennials will like to be divided and replanted at this time. Agapanthus, chrysanthemums, coreopsis, African daisies (gazania), English daisies (bellis), gloriosa daisies (rudbeckia), and Shasta daisies, daylilies (hemerocallis), delphiniums, dianthus, statice (limonium), and violets are good candidates.

If you simply pinch dead blooms and feed your pansies and violas this will keep them looking good and blooming for a longer period. 

If you were lucky enough to be gifted an amaryllis it is easy to make it bloom again. After it’s through blooming, cut off the bloom stalk about an inch above where it emerges from the bulb. Place the plant in a warm, sunny place to grow. Water it generously, and fertilize regularly. Watering with a quarter-strength houseplant fertilizer solution each time will provide constant feeding for gradual growth. Don’t let the soil get dry at any time, as this will disrupt the cycle. During the summer, a spot in filtered sun outdoors is fine. Flower buds set better in fall when night temperatures are cooler, from 50 to 55 degrees. 

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.

– Audrey Hepburn


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Francisco Nava
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