January Hints and Tips

Cyclamen
Reasons to be Cheerful
The shortest day has been and gone and the daily period of light has, almost imperceptibly, increased. The infra-red wavelengths penetrate the soil and activate enzymes, via chemicals called phytochromes, that start seeds and dormant plants growing.
Witch hazel, Sarcococca, Daphne odora and Mahonia are just some of the scented flowers you can enjoy now. Wintergreen ferns give a wonderful textured foliage effect in sheltered shady spots, so do the leaves of Cyclamen hederafolia and Pulmonaria. Cyclamen coum flowers in early spring and combines well with winter aconites or snowdrops. (The peak flowering time for most snowdrops is February, but varieties like Galanthus elwessii, G.nivalis and G.woronowii are earlier.)
Jobs to do
December Gardening Tips
Most leaves of deciduous trees have fallen by now and you tidy gardeners will have swept them up and started the leaf mould process – you cannot buy leaf mould. Beech hedges will retain their dead leaves until Spring. Oak trees will continue to lose leaves and you can watch as ‘herds’ of leaves skitter like mice along paths to hide in corners throughout the Winter.
This is the time of year when structure in the garden is important. Deciduous trees and shrubs present skeletons of branches; you can improve their appearance by pruning out crossing or crowded branches. If they are providing too much shade, then perhaps you could lift the canopy.
All that hard work in the summer clipping evergreen shrubs and hedges into shape can be appreciated now; the crisp green outlines you created look wonderful all the way to Spring
Not all colour has gone: stems of dogwoods, willows and some maples are colourful both outside, and as part of your Christmas decorations indoors. (Something I found worked well, in Spring, when you have to cut back dogwoods to get new colourful shoots, use the old shoots as decorative plant supports.)
Birch bark can light up the winter garden on dark days. Some varieties are better than others. Betula albo-sinensis has orange bark, B.papyrifera has white bark that peels off in strips.
Mahonia, Hellebores, Daphne and Viburnum are good shrubs for winter colour and often scent. The very early Iris unguicularis (stilosa) flowers in the dead of winter, clear blue flowers that you can cut and admire in a vase.