January 2026

January 1, 2026

Happy New Year! My garden kitty, Pepper, is sleeping late this morning because I am not going to the garden today. I have the flu, so we will take a break for several days.

January 7, 2026

We use inexpensive red drinking cups to start many of our perennial seedlings because they are deep enough for strong root development.  I thought substituting bamboo cups would cut our use of plastic, but look what happened! They have molded. This proves they will decompose! We had them in our seasonal, vinyl greenhouse and they didn’t get enough air circulation. We will bury the pots in the middle of one of our earthworm-filled Nectar Patches. Mold spores to not harm earthworms!

January 9, 2026

This is my Amaryllis plant two weeks after my last shared photograph. This is such a wonderful, long-lasting gift. Notice there is another stem emerging from the bulb. I have a feeling this plant will last until Valentine's Day!

January 15, 2026

After 9 years it is time to replace the fencing on the black pots in our Visitor Gardens. The white fencing is decorative and looks beautiful against the black pots, but it also has a more important purpose. The black pots absorb lots of heat (especially during summer months) and partially covering them with reflective white fencing increases the albedo of the pot. Black surfaces have a low albedo (absorb) and bright surfaces have a high albedo (reflect).

January 16

Since we are replacing the fencing on our pots, we decided it would be a good time to experiment by changing how the pots are positioned. We are going to raise half of our black pots by placing lifts underneath their outer edges. We have made inexpensive and indestructible lifts by filling aluminum cat food cans with cement. It will probably take four cans per pot. We hope the space under the pots will provide protected spaces for insect and reptile habitats. It will also keep the bottom edges of the fencing off the ground slowing decomposition of the wooden slats.

January 22, 2026

It is so pleasant to see flowers in January. Four-nerve daisy plants are evergreen perennials that bloom until early winter and resume blooming early spring. Scabiosa plants are also evergreen perennials (in our area), and they are early bloomers, too. Until recently, we have had unseasonally warm temperatures, and they are flowering early!

January 24-25, 2026   

We finally got rain! It sounded good on our tin porch, it smelled good, and it was good for our plants and soil. The first day of this winter storm brought 2.5” of rain, raising the levels of our water storage tanks and saturating the soil to protect the roots of our perennials. This was followed by several days of below freezing temperatures and 1" of winter mix precipitation. The timing of the rain was perfect!

January 24-25, 2026   

This summer we added a large dry-erase board to the garden for comments or sketches. This has been a very nice addition to the garden. Besides English, we have received notes in Chinese, German, and Spanish. Notice that the cup we use to hold the markers is filled with ice. Since we hadn’t had rain in months, we forgot to drill a hole in the bottom of the holder. A spontaneous lesson on volume, expansion, and density.

January 27, 2026

Our Pepper Patch plants have lost their leaves, but they are still covered with an abundance of dried (chili petin/chili pequin) peppers. Several species of birds eat these winter treats and don’t feel the heat. They also deposit (defecate) the undigested seeds while sitting on fences or perching in trees. Chili peppers are a dietary delicacy for mockingbirds.