January in the garden
Winter is a good time for garden planning and doing research on new plants and garden directions. Take classes while you are not as busy with outdoor activities. Winter is also a good time for pruning many trees and shrubs, so keep gardening all winter — but dress for the cold. General garden careJanuary is the month to check host plants for overwintering Eastern tent caterpillar egg cases. This pest may affect crabapple, apple, hawthorn, mountain ash, flowering cherry and other trees and shrubs that are in the rose family. Check for signs of dark, iridescent egg cases that encircle small twigs, giving the twig a pencil-like shape. Remove any egg cases that you find and dispose of them in the trash.
As the new garden catalogs arrive in the mail, consult your notes from the past season as you make your choices. Selecting the right plant for your garden's particular growing conditions and your design goals is important for success and reducing maintenance. Consider varieties that have improved resistance to insects or diseases. Order early to ensure that the plants you want are available.
Clean crusty clay pots by soaking them in a bucket filled a solution of 1 cup each of white vinegar and household bleach to each gallon of warm water. If the pots are very dirty, let them soak for 12 hours or so to loosen the grime and then scrub with a steel wool pad.
Inspect squash, potatoes, root crops and other vegetables or fruits that you have stored for winter. Although conditions may have been ideal when you harvested and stored them in the fall, winter weather may have made their storage area too cold or damp. Vegetables stored in an unheated garage will likely freeze; they should be moved to the basement and kept as cool as possible. If you bring potatoes into the house, keep them in a dark place so light does not prompt them to sprout. Also inspect flower bulbs you have stored, such as dahlias and gladioli. Throw away or compost any vegetables or bulbs that have spoiled or have soft spots.
It is easy to forget about the garden in the dead of winter, but animals can continue causing damage as they feed on twigs or bark. Watch for damage and install barriers as needed to prevent it, such as hardware cloth cylinders around young trees and shrubs. Don't make barriers too short; as snow piles up, rabbits can reach higher and higher into shrubs to feed on branches. Animal repellents can be applied when temperatures are above 40 degrees.
Houseplants
Moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) will bloom for months during the winter. Provide the orchid with bright light but keep it out of direct sun in a warm room. Try to provide extra humidity by setting it on a tray of pebbles filled with water or use a humidifier. Or move the plant into a bright bathroom where it will be bathed in moisture from daily showers. Flowers and developing buds will drop if the orchid is moved to a cold room or exposed to drafts.
After flowering, allow the stem to yellow before cutting it off at the base of the plant. Now begin to fertilize the plant twice a month with a diluted orchid fertilizer. Wash the foliage monthly. It is not necessary to take this plant outdoors for the summer; it actually prefers indoor conditions. Continue normal watering and fertilizing until a new stem appears, approximately 10 to 12 months later. When the plant begins to set flower buds, stop fertilizing it.
Flowering azaleas bought as indoor potted plants will bloom for many weeks in a bright window if they are provided with even moisture and if you remove spent flowers promptly. The plant, in its pot, can be taken outside to a partially shaded spot in the garden once all danger of frost has passed in May. At that time, begin to fertilize twice a month with a diluted 10-10-10 solution. Some gardeners prefer to use a liquid fertilizer especially for acid-loving plants. Bring the potted plant back indoors before fall frost arrives.
Cyclamen plants will bloom for a few weeks if they are kept in a north window in a cool room (55 to 60 degrees) and watered enough to keep the soil evenly moist, never soggy. Avoid splashing the crown of the plant or the foliage, as this can promote diseases. Remove fading flowers and their stems as needed.
Most gardeners find it too difficult to force a cyclamen to bloom again the following season. However, if you would like to try, take the following steps: As the foliage and flowers begin to fade, withhold water. Remove all dead foliage from the tuber, clean off the soil and store the tuber in peat moss or vermiculite in a dark, cool (50 degrees) spot for its dormant period. Later in spring or summer, check the tuber for new growth. As soon as growth begins, repot the tuber with its top half exposed and bottom half buried in fresh soilless potting mix. Resume normal watering and fertilize with a dilute 10-10-10 or 15-15-15 mix twice a month. Cyclamen benefits from summers spent outside in a protected spot in the garden where it receives morning sun. Bring the plant indoors before autumn frost.
#376;Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden (chicagobotanic.org).