Forgive the earworm, or not if it doesn’t happen for you. Ever changing moods has been my state of mind in January. One week wanting to take down the eleagnus but then realising that it provides great cover for the birds. The next being absolutely sure that I must find room for a hamamelis but then sensibly realising that I just don’t have the right long term space for this desirable winter shrub. I’ve moaned about constant rain and grey days, haven’t we all? Then thrilled to glorious blue skies and winter sun. The garden catalogues have arrived and I am being pulled this way and that by their temptations. I’ve settled down this week. Accepting that January in the garden is what it is. I managed to prune back a good number of the rose shrubs but there are more to do. The climbing roses weigh heavily on my conscience but there’s still time. Raspberries and blackcurrants need to be looked at but they too can wait a little longer. This week I happily left the garden alone. The paths were slippery with frost and the ground is frozen once again. There’s not much to show but it is January and that is how it should be.
One
The frozen ground and frost may seem inhospitable but the garden grabs each growing moment and gets on with it. These are day lily shoots and the first leaves of geranium phaeum. It will be some months before their time to flower comes.
Two
You can see why the climbing roses are on my mind. There is quite some sorting out to be done here. The ruthless gardener must be found and all these branches thinned out and the framework tied into the wires again.
Three
The hellebores will nod their heads downward so it was a little difficult to capture this ‘Pretty Ellen’ red against the sun. Here’s my best effort.
Four
Somewhere out in the garden are some foxgloves seedlings waiting to push through the mulch. Here, in the greenhouse, are two that didn’t get planted out. It looks like they will have a head start when the time comes to relocate them.
Five
At the end of October I planted some Japanese red onion sets. They seemed very slow to get started but week by week they are making progress. Could they be ‘Electric’? I really can’t remember.
Six
A month later at the end of November I planted out the winter bedding. I filled the pots with bellis daisies. They had a week to acclimatise before they were covered by six inches of snow and experienced minus 5 degrees Celsius for a week. They made it through that and have just experienced another week of minus degrees overnight. I am so impressed by their sturdiness and I know that they will just get more and more cheerful as the warmer weather creeps in.
It’s a weekend of cold weather here and I am not going to feel guilty about the garden. Far better to wait for a time when the fingers won’t freeze and the paths are safer. Happy guilt free waiting to you all. Happy gardening times are around the corner. Jim, our host for SOS, features the links to other blogs on his Garden Ruminations pages. He has some lovey photos this week. No wonder he is the leader of the pack!
n20gardener 
Acceptance is a good idea. I am always so eager once the new year comes, I must hold fire. Although I have sown some tomatoes and aubergine, but don’t tell anyone as it is not approved of. I love the winter bedding bellis and I had forgotten that I do. Perhaps next year. Stay warm and good luck with the catalogue temptation.
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I’d be on the verge of sowing tomato seeds for the gh if it hadn’t gone! I’m dithering about the replacement. You stay warm too.
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It’s been a messy month and difficult to do anything with comfort in the garden. I got round to pruning the lower branches off a good number of trees and the subsequent shredding for the compost bin. Snowdrops are in full flow but today is a day for indoors.
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I think your opening paragraphs says it all. January is indeed a month of indecision and frustration. Getting out into the garden on Thursday for just a couple of hours certainly helped improve my mood (and the garden). I was going to buy bellis daisies for my pots, but yet another year has gone by without doing that. My daylilies need digging up and dividing, but it’s a bit too wet for that at the moment.
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January is that month when the sunny days inspire me and the gloomy days dampen my spirit. Thank you for sharing the hellebore and the daisies. It is the blooms of winter that lift the gardening spirit.
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That’s a very pretty hellebore. As much as we gardeners get restless during the frozen days of winter, I do love seeing the frosted plant photos. The icy winter garden is a thing of beauty in itself.
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You’re right, we no longer know where to walk in some flowerbeds, because the new spring shoots are just starting to be visible (but not enough and we can do damage…)
Photographing flowers like hellebores is not easy. I use a small stick that I plant in the ground to lift the flower upwards. The difference with mine is that yours are open!
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It looks as though you cut your day lilies right down at the end of the season. I have never done this, and now I’m wondering if that would be a better way of treating them. Your new shoots look very healthy. How lovely to have foxglove seedlings appearing. I had a beautiful one, but it didn’t set seed…..not really the right climate here.
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No one seems to prune roses enough anymore. I just spent a few days tending to our roses. I started as soon as we caught up with all the mess from the rain. Hundreds of roses live in our landscapes. I prune the carpet roses back to only three canes or so, and since they are carpet roses, I could actually coppice them to the ground.
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You summed up the mood of the moment beautifully. I grew bellis last year and was well pleased with them. I had thought to oversummer them, but the heat got to them. I think it is best to start afresh with new plants.
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It’s been far too cold to do much, if anything, outside. Trouble is I end up reading gardening magazines and GETTING IDEAS. I do love a little bellis – so pretty.
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Your Bellis look a lot happier than mine but I’m hopeful that they’ll perk up. All of the new shoots are amazing given the weather we’ve had.
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