January gardening: midwinter ideas
Grow your own food and wildlife friendly flowers
I love the days immediately after the Winter Solstice, marking the start of the natural year. Days may be crisp and cold but light is returning and plants are already responding with growth. Hellebores are flowering, or about to, daffodils and alliums are poking through frozen soil, while snowdrops are well on their way to signalling the start of the flowering year. Buds begin to swell now in preparation. Many plants are dormant making it a great time for planting them bareroot or pruning, including fruit and nut trees and shrubs. It is also a quieter time for cosy evenings reading and dreaming for the year ahead - a time to be cherished.
