January 2021 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Gabriela]

How beautiful it looks Leena! A true winter image 
I am very happy for you, the snow blanket means very good protection for all plants; you don't have to worry about any cold snaps for a while.

[Catwheazle]

we got snow now too. About 50cm overnight. ... and it continues to snow non-stop ...

greetings
Bernd

[Leena]

Here the snowing has now stopped, and it is -12C and temperature dropping. So snow is really good protection for the plants at the moment.

Will developing hellebore buds be affected by the snowfall?

No, not at least if they are in the early stage (if they are in full flower like some early Helleborus niger might be, then the flowers may be damaged during winter. I don't have such plants right now, or there was one H.niger starting to flower in December, but voles ate the flowers one night).
The buds just stop developing more, and wait until snow melts and temperatures are getting above freezing. It looks like this year it will be in March or April:(. Last year I had more damage to Helleborus buds/flowers when there wasn't any snow, but flowering started earlier then, and also some plants were not damaged at all, so there are differences in their cold tolerance.

Lovely photo Leena, and a snug blanket for your plants.
It puts my paltry ice crystals into perspective

Thanks Ashley, I loved your ice crystals, and actually I would much rather have your milder climate, but it is what it is:).
It is so nice to see plants and flowers in milder climates when here it is still winter.

[Catwheazle]

meanwhile we sink into the snow. About 1 meter.
.... no plants, only Maja is having fun

 

[Robert]

A few scenes from our Sacramento, California garden today, 18 January.

I am getting the garden in order. The winter vegetables are producing well. The record, to near record, high temperatures feel more like April than January.



I continuously plant to keep us well supplied with fresh vegetables throughout the year.



The first flowers in this tub of Narcissus romieuxii started to appear about 1 January. Now they are in full flower and look great. More flower buds are yet to open.



This is a little closer look at the flowers.



A few Narcissus bulbocodium have started to bloom.

[Robert]

Moraea polystachya will bloom in our garden from autumn into the early spring. The plants out in the open garden bloom first. During the autumn, we delay watering the bulbs in tubs. They bloom during the winter into the spring.



We grow Moraea polystachya from seed from which we get considerable genetic variability. We breed and select for characteristics that we appreciate and plants that perform well in our garden.



Arctostaphylos myrtifolia is among the first of the Manzanita species to commence blooming in our garden.



This is an exceptional form of Arctostaphylos myrtifolia that I propagated asexually from a specimen I found near Ione, California about 7 or 8 years ago. The coppery-red new growth is very showy and the plant blooms prolifically.



A beautiful California native Dudleya with Arctostaphylos myrtifolia.

[Hoy]

Your garden looks terrific, Robert! Especially since it is only January.
My garden is covered by 10 cm snow, or it was. Now it is raining so it is a mess out there.

A couple photos from before the rain.

[Catwheazle]

still lot of snow 

[Stefan B.]

[Andre Schuiteman]

Eranthis hyemalis enjoying some rare snow.

[Hoy]

The coldest January for years. Even the fjord has frozen over. Must be more than 10 years since it happened last time.

[Mariette]

Trond, I´m going to get addicted to Your pics of  Norwegian sceneries!

Here´s a sharp contrast: When I bought Alstroemeria ´Garden Summer Red´in August, the label promised flowers from May to October. Recently I carried the pot into the green house as frosts were threatening. It´s still flowering there!

[Hoy]

Trond, I´m going to get addicted to Your pics of  Norwegian sceneries!

Here´s a sharp contrast: When I bought Alstroemeria ´Garden Summer Red´in August, the label promised flowers from May to October. Recently I carried the pot into the green house as frosts were threatening. It´s still flowering there!

Thank you Mariette! Glad to hear that

Here's the same scene as above but in sunshine. It is still very cold here and the ice on the fjord hasn't covered that much since 1986.




Very nice Alstroemeria! I did grow Alstroemeria aurea in my garden for many years. But it died some years ago.




Here is an Alstroemeria I saw in Chile. I think it is A. hookeri.

[Mariette]

The flowers of almost all alstroemerias are very beautiful! When we had colder winters, I was able to grow Alstroemeria aurea in the garden for some years, too. But since the winters became milder, the soil became too wet for these, and they succumbed. Friends in my area gardening on better drained soil are still successful with these plants in their borders.

[Catwheazle]

Finally free from the snow: One is Asplenium scolopendrium,
the other I suspect: an Asplenium ceterach
greetings
Bernd