Although Karel Čapek poetically writes in his The Gardener’s Year that “Even January is not a time of inactivity for the gardener,” and he’s right, I find his next sentence more accurate: “As for January vegetation, the best known are the so-called frost flowers on the windowpane.”
January is just a bit of a struggle. Whatever froze back in autumn feels like an eternity ago, and while a Christmas tree counts as greenery, it simply can’t replace fields of annuals. So, it’s more of a month for boxes. Boxes multiply with everything that needs to be stored—packaging, fertilizers, all sorts of useful and useless things. It’s also the ideal time to throw out the latter, but then again, who has the motivation for that in January.
If you’re feeling brave, it’s a good idea to check the boxes where you’re overwintering dahlias. Or rather, their tubers. Just dig a few pieces out of the sawdust and see if they aren’t too dried out or, conversely, starting to mold. You might still be able to save them now; by April, it’ll be hit or miss.
And then there are the boxes or small crates that our seed orders usually arrive in. That’s something that instantly cheers you up. For those who don’t like January at all, you can order those seeds bag by bag to keep yourself happy every other day until spring. I highly recommend it!
The ones that need to be sown as early as January are mainly certain vegetables—like lettuce or peppers. But it’s not exactly a task for beginners. As for flower seeds, eucalyptus is sown in January (a detailed manual can be found at Loukykvět.cz); we managed to grow it at home last year, so if you’re feeling bold, go for it. But expect that out of 100 seeds, you might only get 30 plants for the season.
Then there are geraniums, petunias, or begonias. These germinate at higher temperatures and spring is still far off, so growing them is a bit of an “advanced level” task, and even we prefer to buy these essential balcony plants already grown from more experienced hands.
And also, it’s the perfect time for reading. Whether it’s technical literature or perhaps picking out new varieties of roses and peonies.
So, who’s going to stick to books, and who’s already picturing themselves out in the garden bed even in January?
