Liz Kirton writes :
On the last day of December 2021, on a quick stroll round my garden, I found that even in the ‘deep mid-winter’ there are flowers to appreciate:- witch hazels, both red and yellow unfurling their petals, Iris unguicularis adding their beautiful blue flowers, winter jasmine giving a lovely yellow sheen to the wall outside the front door, and, surprisingly, some left overs from Autumn – a honeysuckle and a rose!
Crocus and daffodil leaves are pushing through the soil and snowdrops are nearly in flower. All indications of life after apparent death!
Here are things to do this month…
- Start pruning Wisteria: cut back the last season’s growth to 2-3 buds of the older wood
- Hard prune bush roses since flowers are produced on the new season’s growth. Cut them back to a strong outward facing bud and remove dead and crossing branches.
- Shake snow off evergreen shrubs to prevent damage to branches and ‘scorching’ of foliage.
- Feed apple trees in late winter with ‘growmore’ or other suitable fertiliser, compost or manure by sprinkling over the area just beyond the branch canopy. Dessert apples need more potassium, cookers more nitrogen, I am told.
- Once your Christmas hippeastrum/amaryllis has finished flowering, feed it fortnightly to build up the bulb. Cyclamen benefit from the same treatment.
- Start chitting early potatoes in trays in a cool, light, frost-free location.
- Sow begonia, lobelia, salvia and pelargonium in a heated propagator.
- Enjoy witch-hazels, snowdrops, winter aconites, hellebores, and Iris unguicularis (stilosa) (pictured below). It is worth cutting back the foliage of the last two to see the flowers better.
Wishing you a happy and productive 2022.