January 2024 Tips

Dear Gardening Friends,  Happy New Year!! Let’s hope the New Year brings you good health, happiness, and peace in the world.   Since there has been little to no snow cover there are some things you can do to protect your plants from temperature fluctuations. Anything newly planted this past late summer or fall and shallow rooted perennials will need protection from temperature fluctuations which causes heaving of plants.  Some types of winter mulch will do the trick. Pine boughs make an easy mulch. When people discard their Christmas trees, lower branches can be pruned off and placed over plants covering the crowns and root zones. These boughs are easily removed in the spring and discarded. Leaves are nature’s mulch. If you don’t have any leaves at this point in time, remember to leave them in your garden beds next fall or save some up for use as mulch. If leaves or boughs aren’t an option, you can use straw. One bale of straw will cover quite a number of plants. There has been a lot of wind so picking up fallen branches is a good winter job. The soil is soft so be mindful of walking on the soft ground especially in garden beds.   January is when we start getting all those gardening catalogues and dream of the spring to come. Catalogues can be very informative about plant types and their growing conditions. Pay close attention and don’t order a plant because it looks beautiful in the catalogue. Carefully match the plant’s growing conditions to those that exist in your garden.   Also, if you’re looking for native plants, pay careful attention to the botanical names. Plants with an English name attached to the Latin, are usually cultivars. Many popular plants like Echinacea purpura (coneflower) have been modified for color, size and even shape of petals. If you’re planting natives to support nature the straight species is always best. Many cultivars are sterile which means they don’t make pollen, nectar, or seed. Basically, they may look pretty but don’t feed nature.   If you’re interested in improving your gardening, you will want to attend one or both of the upcomming Master Gardener events listed below.   Spring Bloom Classes:   Once again, the Master Gardeners will be presenting Spring Bloom Classes. The classes will be on 2 Saturdays, each day having 2 different topics. The day runs from 9:00 AM to 11:45.   February 10th – Orchard Park Community Center Cut This Not That, Lessons in Pruning (I will be presenting this topic) Want to Start Your Own Seeds? This class will cover a variety of easy methods Including Winter Sowing   February 24th – Roswell Park (907) Michigan Ave             - Gardening Tool of the Future: Your Smart Phone             - PRISM I-Map for Mapping Invasive Species   Fees: 1 day/2 classes $20 (MG) $25 (public) 2 days/4 classes $35 (MG) $45 (public)   To register go to: erie.cce.cornell.edu/events     MG Education Day:   MGED is Saturday March 9, 2024 at Classics V Banquet Center, 9-2:30. Those of you who have attended in the past know what a fun and educational day this is. We have 2 outstanding presenters:   Heather Holm, noted garden writer and presenter will talk about: Attracting Bees and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants             Creating and Managing Landscapes for Native Bees Tom Mitchell. Hort professor at NCCC will present: Dumb Things Not To Do In Your Landscaping   Save the date. Registration will begin January 1st. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this amazing and fun day. To register go to erie.cce.cornell.edu/events Happy gardening! Lyn Chimera Lessons from Nature 170 Pine St. E. Aurora, NY 14052 [email protected] 716- 652-2432   Copyright © 2023 Lessons From Nature, All rights reserved. You're receiving this message because you requested to receive Lessons from Nature newsletters. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences