Florida Gardening in January

For all my whining of the exhausting heat and humidity in the summer (sometimes in spring too) these days of winter are what keep me “put” right here in my birthplace of central Florida. Weather reports are full of talk of the “winter wallop” sweeping across the south central states to the East Coast tonight. Ice, rain, snow and all the stuff old man winter conjures up.

January could very well be the slowest gardening month for Florida gardeners. Thankfully for us we are enjoying some of our best weather of the year surrounded by greenery, blue skies and for the most part mild days. While the blooming of perennials and lawn growth is at a lull due to shorter days and cool nights we actually get to take a break from the constant attention demanded in other seasons. This month I’ve still had to mow and edge, still had to dig up weeds- weeds like the mild weather too- still building compost with cuttings and all the kitchen clippings… still hand watering all the container gardens.

I even bought some red geraniums and some other native plants (below) I hope to finish putting in the ground this weekend. I’ve tried really hard not to purchase new plants this month but what can I say I popped into a couple of garden centers and they were selling plants and I bought them… it just happens like that. I do the same thing with shoes. Is that so bad?

This photo also shows the American Beauty Berry plants I bought in Sanibel. They don't have any blooms on them yet. I'm excited to see how well I do with these. They are a first for me.

Oh, I almost got distracted by shoes… back to plants…I purchased a new container for some herbs that were growing out of their current home and got them transplanted and a new wire hanging basket I was thrilled to find at a newly opened garden shop in my neighborhood.

What about you? Are you biting at the bit to get back in gear with gardening? I'm torn between enjoying the break and wanting to get back in the swing of designing and digging.