January

"January is the quietest month in the garden.  ...  But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean that nothing is happening.  The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants.  The feasting earthworms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come."

Rosalie Muller Wright

How true Ms. Wright's words ring in the statement above.....

January is also the time for planning.....getting inspiration from seed catalogs that 

will soon come in and from garden books full of wonderful ideas.  

I have always loved miniature roses.........

Although nothing is blooming outside.........on my 

inside windowsill, this small pot of miniature roses

is still blooming and growing taller.

This was purchased in this whimsical container before Thanksgiving.

I am thrilled that it is doing so well. I need to transplant it to a larger 

container, but it seems to be happy at the moment.......so I will wait .

One of my "plans" is to somehow, create a miniature rose garden.

But where?..... is a the biggest question......as these little roses do not

seem to grow well when the Texas heat comes along. 

Any suggestions?  I will try anything that you tell me works! 

I was also able to find a few small colorful succulents for 

my garden collection.  I hope to keep these growing successfully......

and I hope, as they grow, that they keep their colorful appearance. 

I  am starting to plan more (dry climate)gardens with heat tolerating plants like cactus and succulents.

These plants seems to do well in the summer.........but seem to have 

difficulty in the winter.  Another thing to ponder.

January is also a great time to take inventory of your tools, fertilizers and 

other garden helps. 

Now is the time to till up your soil, (if not frozen) and to expose it to 

the helpful freezing to eliminate eggs of many insect pests.

I think this year I am not going to work on garden spaces for flowers,

instead I want to focus on the natural landscape plants that are growing here 

on the land.  I plan to make garden spaces and paths among them.

This will reduce the time of dragging a water hose everywhere, since the 

plants that are growing here naturally only rely on the rain that comes.

And it might reduce my frustration with pests like insects and rodents.......

since it seems, they only like to eat flowers and pumpkin plants and seem

to leave the natural plants alone.

Not sure if I can resist not planting pumpkin............this is yet to be seen.  

So tell me..........are you already pouring over garden and seed catalogs?

What do you hope to grow?  

I would love to hear!