Rosebie Morton’s January Gardening Guide

If the sun is feeling shy in the sky, January can be a long month of grey days with little to inspire you to get outside, says Rosebie Morton, founder of The Real Flower Company. However, this is when any colour or scent in the garden really comes into its own. If you’re wondering how to get stuck into gardening this January, here’s everything you need to know.

January Gardening Jobs: Make The Most Of Your Garden This Month

Nothing is better than clutching a warm brew, looking out on the garden or a balcony window box and appreciating some winter colour. I have been getting huge pleasure from a spindle berry (Euonymus alatus) which has been hanging onto its last stunning red leaves and bright pink seed capsules with orange seeds bursting out. The beauty of this shrub is that it is very slow growing so ideal where space is tight and would work very well in a pot.

Think coloured stems at this time of the year,  to give you a burst of colour. This is where dog wood (Cornus Sanguinea, or winter fire) is guaranteed to oblige, giving  a splash of colour on a dull winter’s day. 

This is also the time when Evergreens come into their own. Red Robin (Photinia x fraseri) is particularly brilliant, with pretty white flowers and vibrant young red leaves turning green as they mature. It’s a great shrub to add a touch of formality to a garden, and perfect for a balcony, too.

If you have an acid soil or are growing in containers, look at Camelias, with their shiny green leaves and early bright flowers in spring. Azaleas also fall into this bracket, and will reward you with blasts of colour to lift your spirits. In a bigger area, look at Mahonia charity, which forms an impressive architectural shrub – spiky leaved with sweetly scented, bright yellow flowers. Osmanthus x burkwoodi is another evergreen with small leaves; it makes a very good screen and can also light up a shady corner with the bonus of white scented flowers.

Continuing the scent theme, you really are spoilt for choice at this time of the year. Sarcocca confusa is another evergreen that works in any space; its somewhat non-descript flowers produce a wonderfully sweet perfume. Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill (a native to Nepal, so very hardy!) boasts pink flowers with an exquisite scent. Plant a witch hazel to produce beautiful bright orange or yellow spidery flowers as well as a spicy scent in late winter, with the added advantage of stunning autumn colours. 

A shrub that’s often forgotten – but so fantastic this time of year – is Chimomanthus praecox.  Its flowers may not be the most beautiful, but you will forgive its lack of beauty when a few stems in a vase will fill a room with their gorgeous perfume.

So, even if you can’t face braving the elements, there is much to lift the spirits, even in January. you’re lacking colour and scent, now is the time to buy bare rooted plants which are readily available either online or at your local garden centre.