Bulbs coming up everywhere
I hope that 2026 is going to be a good gardening year for you – no more frosts (unless you live in the mountains of course) and no drought as we had last year.
My poor garden has not been the same since we had that heavy frost early last year and we are only at 300 metres. This was followed later by the well drying up, so I certainly am hoping for a better outcome this year!
There are various myths about the garden in January. ‘If in January the sun much appears, March and April pay full dear’, whilst St Hilary’s day on January 13th is said to be the coldest day of the year! Already we have had some good rain and the plants are perking up, which is always heartening!
Some trees shed leaves all year round but some, like pecans are still shedding. The leaves should be scooped up and put on your compost heap so that any snails should be denied a resting place before eating any of your crops as they can live for an extraordinary length of time!
Check over any of your fruit trees as they may have grown to great heights and need to be shortened. Ease of cropping fruit is the main reason for this, so that you don’t have to use ladders to pick the fruits. You would be surprised just how many people fall from ladders in gardens when performing this necessary job. So, take care and get someone to hold the ladder whilst you do this.
Pruning tools can also be problematic and it is a good idea to clean the blades between trees, so that any diseases aren’t spread around your garden and then put them away safely afterwards.
Bulbs are coming up everywhere. The first to show flowers are usually Paperwhites with their delicate perfumes, which I do enjoy as they seem to be the ‘herald of spring’, not that we have a springtime here or autumn either. We seem to go straight from winter into summer and vice versa.
Another favourite I may have mentioned before is Gladiolus tristis, sometimes known as the ‘night Gladiolus’ as it shares its heady perfume during the evenings. It is also known as the ‘yellow marsh Afrikaner’ as that is where it was first found.
You may think it strange to find a gladiolus flowering at this time of year but this species, along with others, started life in South Africa, where it would be flowering in their summertime! These are not those tall sword-like plants which grace a summer garden, but the delicately perfumed tiny flowers in pastel shades, which delight at this time of year.
It’s rather early to be sowing seeds, although you may find seedlings popping up. Cerinthe, for instance, drops ripe seeds in the late summer, which may germinate after any rain in January, but need to be watched in case of any very low temperatures.
I have just finished pricking out some seedlings into little pots to give them some protection from any cold winter weather or heavy rain until they are big enough for the flower borders.
If you live along the coast, you may already have strelitzia flowers in bloom. Known as ‘The Bird of Paradise’ this is another South African plant that is a must for our gardens here.
Certainly, it causes comments when it is showing off its striking flowers. Sometimes they are grown in deep pots, although they can become quite large in a short time and may need to be transferred into the garden before long.
You may notice that as the plant expands quickly you may want to remove some of the growth from around the base. Clear the ground around the plant and you will notice that there will be new growths there and with care you can remove some of them to plant elsewhere.
Check your jasmine plants, especially the scented white flowered ones. They should have finished flowering by now and for best results should be cut right back to the wood. I know it sounds drastic and the poor plant looks naked, but I can assure you that it will give you more lovely flowers later on.
Meanwhile, Jasminum mesnyi will be coming into flower, and although the bright yellow flowers have no perfume, they bring an early touch of spring in the winter garden.
How have the plants fared that you used to decorate your house over the festive season, like poinsiettas for instance? With care they can last a very long time and some I have known to last well into the summer. The secret is not to water them too much. A little but often is the usual dose but feel the top of the soil before adding more water and never let them stand in water, check the saucer underneath and drain any excess water.
This applies to outdoor plants too. Nothing kills a plant more quickly than having it roots sitting in water unless it is a pond plant of course.
Potted cyclamen are other favourites at this time of year and can last a long time, whilst those in the garden will be beginning to show their flower buds and what a delight they are.
I am always being asked when to prune olive trees. This is best done in January before the sap starts to rise, when the vine will bleed.
It is possible to take cuttings from any of the prunings now as well. Once these cuttings are ready to be planted out in the garden, it will take a while before you get any grapes though, so if you can’t wait then it’s better to buy a tree from a garden centre.
Like other fruit trees they do need a chill period, but not too much cold and they do like a sunny spot, as do figs, which are also popular plants if you have space.
Plant of the Month – lemon trees
The citrus fruits are colouring up nicely and always something to look forward to.
I remember writing about a lemon tree years ago in the next village to me, which always has the most enormous lemons. I hope that they had lots of juice for summer drinks.
Having had a bumper crop of oranges last year, our lemons were not very good, whilst they had been splendid the year before. This is known as biennial bearing and I suppose you could liken it to too much fruit one year and having a rest the next season! Too much fruit can lead to smaller sized fruits!
Whilst you may think that a lemon is just a lemon, you may be surprised to learn that there are about 15 different varieties, but not all grow here.
You may like a refreshing drink of homemade lemonade in the summer, as they are available all-year round in shops, or you can squeeze and freeze the juice when they are in abundance, usually in the early spring.
Here in Cyprus, they are offered on your dinner plate to enhance the flavour of the food.
In former times scurvy was a problem in the old sailing ships with many sailors became heavily fatigued and with bleeding gums and bruising, whilst it caused many to die.
It was the British who discovered that the Vitamin C that lemons produced, managed to deal with scurvy, caused by there being a lack of fresh food on board ships on long voyages, so they were carried on board after that and used extensively. That’s how the nickname ‘Limeys’ came about.
Lemons are grafted onto bitter orange root stock, which is used for other citrus fruits as well, so be mindful that when you plant the tree make sure to leave the graft point above the level of the ground or you will encourage bitter oranges to grow from there.
This always reminds me of a lovely lime tree that we grew here with bumper crops, but one winter we had a severe frost which burned all the slightly tender lime branches off and we were left with the rootstock. This grew on and we still have a wonderful tree of marmalade oranges from that!
Pruning should be done in February after the main crop has been harvested, and flowers should be appearing again in March and April when you should also remove any dead, diseased or crossing branches so that the air can move freely through the tree.
Feed in December, February and May. Sometimes you may find mottling between the veins on the leaves, which indicates that the tree lacks zinc, which is called a trace element and crucial for plant growth. Most bought potting composts have some trace elements within them, but it may not be sufficient. The best way to treat this is by spraying – a level dessert spoon of zinc in 5 litres of water, until the mixture runs off the leaves.