Christmas approaches: plants make lovely gifts, but many fade quickly. Tips for keeping them healthy. Garden centers offer wide ranges—read labels, avoid difficult plants for non-gardeners. Also: a fly-repellent kitchen plant.
Needs: Christmas gift plants; 1 packet mignonette seed; 1 packet 3-inch peat pots. Time: 7 hours in 2 weeks.
Cold, wet soil and air restrict gardening. Plants dormant. Statistically coldest month. Stay indoors, learn new techniques like pruning.
Garden centers burst with cyclamen—every pink shade from white to scarlet, crimson, purple; bi-colors, fringed, fluted, spiraled petals; marbled leaves. Buy plants with many buds, few open flowers. Cool, well-lit position. Soak water, then dry before rewatering. Never splash corm—rots. After flowering, yellow leaves, dry corm completely, restart watering around July for Christmas bloom.
Routine maintenance: repair fences immediately—damage escalates. Check wall mortar, especially behind new fan-trained trees. Inspect trellis/construction for stability. Protect new patio concrete with sacking in frost. Keep plant labels; record locations (grid map with card index). Learn Latin names—common names confuse. Revive jaded gift plants: even temperature, light room, avoid hot/stuffy/dark/dry, create humidity.
Winter = indoor gardening. Don't forget plants in summer. Rule: most houseplants (except cacti/succulents) need humidity. Central heating dries air—top killer. Solution: bowl twice pot diameter, pebbles at bottom, pot on pebbles, water in pebbles (never touching pot bottom).
Grow herbs: start seeds in peat pots with soilless mix. Plant out late spring/early summer, 4 weeks after last frost. On patio, move tub to sunny sheltered spot, plant fancy-leaved ivies to trail. Use reference books to identify gift plants.
Old-fashioned, treasured for sweet scent. Flowers less bright than modern plants—less grown today. We grow it as a kitchen houseplant: scent repels flies. Sow in peat pots with soilless mix, thin to 3 plants/pot. Place peat pot in slightly larger crocked clay pot, fill gap with mix. Stand in ornamental container on kitchen windowsill. Give spares to friends; plant remainder in garden.
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 20 – Container Gardening and Soil Testing
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 13 – Planting a Tree
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 12 – Autumn Crocus and Lawn Preparation
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 8 – Creating a Circular Lawn
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 7 – Completing the Patio and Herb Garden
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 6 – Starting the Patio and Creative Ideas
Two-Hour Gardening Project: Stage 3 – Cover Vines and Tomato Transplants
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 26 – Climbing Plants and Pergolas
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 25 – Knowing Your Garden
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 23 – Pruning Principles
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 19 – Christmas Rose and Pest Management
Two Hour Gardening Project: Stage 18 – Selecting Shrubs and Planning Rockery
Two-Hour Gardening Project: Stage 2 – Annual Bed with Calendulas and Shirley Poppies
Two-Hour Gardening Project: Stage 1 – Pole Beans, Indoor Sowing, and Compost Bin
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