GARDEN NOTES A Chilli Time of Year Growing your own chilli peppers on a windowsill or in a greenhouse is remarkably easy, but they’ll need a long growing season to ripen fully. If you’ve got a heated propagator or an airing cupboard, January is a good time to start. Fill a seed tray with moist seed compost, sprinkle a few seeds on top, press the seeds into the compost and cover with a thin layer of vermiculite. If you don’t have a propagator, cover the tray with clingfilm and pop it into the airing cupboard. As soon as your seeds germinate, which should be within a week or two, move them to a warm, sunny windowsill. When the seedlings are big enough to handle, transplant them into individual pots.
BIRDY BATHTIME
Visiting birds bring life and colour to the garden in winter, and watching them from your window can provide hours of entertainment. As well as feeders, garden birds very much appreciate a regularly filled bird bath – even in chilly weather they still need to drink and bathe. If you’re looking to buy one, the RHS has a selection of attractive and practical bird baths available to browse online at rhsplants.co.uk. A chic bird bath would also make a great present for a garden-loving friend. Of course a frozen-over bird bath is no help at all to your feathered visitors, so when temperatures plummet remember to pop out every morning and gently melt the ice. A cup of warm water should do the trick.
Seasonal Sensation Poinsettias Poinsettias, with their huge, colourful bracts, are a favourite purchase at this time of year. And here in North Yorkshire we have the country’s leading poinsettia experts on our doorstep: Ravensworth Nurseries (ravensworthnurseries.com). Ravensworth is one of the UK’s only commercial poinsettia growers. Its staff carefully tend thousands of them in the nursery’s glasshouses in the run-up to Christmas. Scarlet and green is the colour palette we traditionally associate with poinsettias, but nowadays these stunning seasonal houseplants come in several different varieties, with zingy lemons or perky pinks in place of the usual red. Ravensworth Nurseries is, of course, the place to find them. Keep your poinsettias happy by giving them a steady temperature of 15–20°C and watering only when the compost is dry.
Topical Tip: A 3-inch layer of shredded bark, straw or compost applied around the base of borderline hardy plants in December can help them survive the worst of the winter
Off with Their Heads!
It makes a lot of sense to leave flower heads of plants like Sedum spectabile (aka Hylotelephium spectabile) standing until midwinter. They add shape and interest to the borders, and look especially striking when frosted or dusted with snow. Fairly soon, though – once the days begin to lengthen – new leaves will spring up at the base. If you don’t snip off the old stems promptly you may find that it’s difficult to do so without inadvertently damaging the new growth. While you’ve got the secateurs out, this a good time to cut back bush, shrub and climbing roses. Rambling roses are best left until summer. Dales Life | WINTER 2021 |
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